Since Game Of Thrones is largely about dramatic political struggles, it’s easy and tempting to try and compare it to real-life politics. Someone who fights for high-minded ideals but loses because they can’t play dirty is a Ned Stark, someone who just fails upward is a Jon Snow, and someone who keeps accumulating more power while sleeping with their sibling is a Cersei Lannister. However, for George R.R. Martin, the author behind the novels that Game Of Thrones is based on, there’s only one character who perfectly lines up with a real-world political figure.
In the middle of an extended Esquire profile on Kit Harington, Martin noted that “Joffrey is now the king in America,” adding that he has “grown up just as petulant and irrational as he was when he was 13 in the books.” Martin is obviously referring Donald Trump, who definitely has a lot in common with the sadistic little shit who gleefully terrorized the people of Westeros, and it’s not just because Joffrey was widely despised, grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, and still managed to do a terrible job when he was running things. Actually, that kind of covers it, but only because we don’t know what experience Trump has using a crossbow.
Harington also brought up Trump in the profile, referring to him as a “con artist” and casually noting that he’ll only call him “Mr. Donald Trump” instead of using his presidential title.