--- title: Donald Trump Hitler Comparisons 'Ridiculous,' He Says description: Donald Trump dismissed recent comments by various public figures comparing him to Adolf Hitler, calling the comparisons "terrible" canonical: https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-08T19:01:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:43:03.928Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Dismisses Hitler and Nazi Salute Comparisons og:description: Trump has asked supporters to raise their right hand and pledge to vote for him og:url: https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee095b6dea2178f/69888a1bab6d77869c6a8c1e/donald-trump-pledge.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Donald Trump in Orlando, Florida. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Dismisses Hitler and Nazi Salute Comparisons twitter:description: Trump has asked supporters to raise their right hand and pledge to vote for him twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee095b6dea2178f/69888a1bab6d77869c6a8c1e/donald-trump-pledge.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Dismisses Hitler and Nazi Salute Comparisons > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7c41e891-ff2e-4fcd-ab18-b5a5c583ef40&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 7:01 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump guides everyone to pledge to vote for him as he speaks during a campaign event at the CFE Federal Credit Union Arena in Orlando, FL on March 5. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump guides everyone to pledge to vote for him as he speaks during a campaign event at the CFE Federal Credit Union Arena in Orlando, FL on March 5. Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 7:01 PM UTC Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed recent comments by various public figures comparing him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, calling the comparisons “terrible” and defending the need to be vigilant about threats to national security. “I don’t know about the Hitler comparison. I hadn’t heard that, but it’s a terrible comparison. I’m not happy about that, certainly,” Trump [said in an interview](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-calls-comparisons-adolf-hitler-terrible/story?id=37483771) on _Good Morning America_ on Tuesday. “I don’t want that comparison, but we have to be strong. We have to be vigilant.” Former [Mexican President Vicente Fox](http://time.com/4239982/vicente-fox-donald-trump-hitler/), [comedian Louis C.K.](http://time.com/4248723/louis-ck-donald-trump-email-hitler-comparison/) and former New Jersey Gov. [Christine Todd Whitman](http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/christine-todd-whitman-donald-trump-hitler/) are among the people who have compared Trump to Hitler because of the rhetoric he has used throughout his campaign. At recent rallies, Trump has asked supporters to raise their right hand and repeat a pledge to vote for him. In a [_Today Show_ interview](http://www.today.com/news/donald-trump-comparing-my-campaign-pledge-nazi-salute-ridiculous-t78511) on Tuesday morning, Trump dismissed as “ridiculous” criticism that the pledge is reminiscent of the Nazi salute, and he said he hadn’t realized it was a problem. “I think it’s ridiculous. I mean, we’re having such a great time,” Trump said. “If it’s offensive, if there’s anything wrong with it, I wouldn’t do it.” He said the pledge is all in good fun and he would look into whether it has been offensive when deciding whether to do it again. “I’ll certainly look into it because I don’t want to offend anybody, but I can tell you that it’s been amazingly received, well received,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Dismisses Hitler and Nazi Salute Comparisons","datePublished":"2016-03-08T19:01:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:43:03.928Z","description":"Trump has asked supporters at rallies to raise their right hand and repeat a pledge to vote for him","url":"https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee095b6dea2178f/69888a1bab6d77869c6a8c1e/donald-trump-pledge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee095b6dea2178f/69888a1bab6d77869c6a8c1e/donald-trump-pledge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump in Orlando, Florida.","caption":"Donald Trump in Orlando, Florida.","creditText":"Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4251138/donald-trump-dismisses-hitler-nazi-salute-comparisons/","name":"Donald Trump Dismisses Hitler and Nazi Salute Comparisons"}}]}] ```