The Donald Trump of Star Wars: Borsk Fey'lya

"Consider Borsk Fey'lya, the Bothan diplomat who rose to become Chief of State of the New Republic. He seemed to have a personal grudge against the Jedi, but ultimately, he was just a single-minded politician out to champion his species and homeworld.”

―J.D. Wiker

It is 2017 and the US of A is dealing with the fact that Donald J. Trump will serve as their president for the next 4 years. Some Star Wars fans can’t help but compare Trump to Palpatine. Yet I think the truth is a little more complex.


To some liberals Trump is evil incarnate. To some conservatives Trump is a hero triumphant. Yet perplexingly, Trump was not so long ago, a self-identified liberal. He is also despised by many conservatives. Therefore I would not compare Trump to Palpatine, but to a character that was more morally ambiguous. The Trump of the Star Wars universe is probably Borsk Fey’lya.

"Borsk Fey'lya is quite persuasive…
he has Mon Mothma's ear in many things."
 ~Admiral Ackbar

Fey’lya was created by Timothy Zahn in the early nineties and was a Bothan spy who helped the rebels secure the plans to the second Death Star (although not one of the ones who lost their lives).

In the old expanded universe, Borsk Fey’lya was a constant thorn in the side for Luke, Han, Leia and their allies. Like Trump, Fey’la had an ambitious nature, and he would constantly find ways to discredit his political rivals.

Admiral Gial Ackbar is one such example. Borsk and Ackbar both joined the rebel alliance not long after the Battle of Yavin. From this moment on Borsk wanted Ackbar’s position of Admiral and had Ackbar arrested for treason, (which later turned out to be false charges).

“Borsk does what
Borsk needs to do,
at any given moment,
to benefit Borsk.”
-Luke Skywalker

Borsk was always quick to claim that the New Republic was prejudice against Bothans and used an “us against them” mentality to gain support among his people. Yet most thought that Borsk’s claims of speciesism were hypocritical since he always acted in the best interests of Bothans and, most of all, himself.

"You are involved in a liaison
with a human-you want to marry him...
the vast majority of Bothans consider it
something of a perversion.
He's all but furless and his face is
so squashed it's, well, hideous”
~ Borsk Fay’lya

Like many of conservatives in America today, Borsk Fey’lya was not a fan of “free love”. When Bothan pilot Asyr Sei'lar applied to adopt a bothan baby, Borsk forced her to withdraw the application because she was seeking to raise it with her lover, Gavin Darklighter. Gavin is of course Biggs Darklighter's brother and happens to be a human.

"You refer to us as ‘alien,’
and the Princess calls us
‘non-human.’
Why are we defined by
you and in comparison to you?"
 ~Borsk Fey’lya

Later in his lifetime, Borsk sought to destroy the political career of Leia Solo, while she was the chief of state. Borsk was involved with a group that motioned for a 'vote of no confidence' against her. Not long after this it was Fey’lya who was elected Leia’s successor.

"Chief Fey'lya,
You are a poor
excuse for a sentient being.
I hope one day you
really smell the stink in your
heart and choke on the fumes."
~Jaina Solo

Borsk's dream was realized when he took the highest office in the galaxy, but dark times were quick to follow. Intergalactic invaders known as the Yuuzhan Vong threatened the entire Star Wars universe, and challenged, even the Jedi Order. At first Borsk insinuated that this was a fictitious threat invented to usurp power from him and put "humans" such as Leia Solo back into power. Later, Many blamed Borsk’s distrust of the Jedi and his refusal to act for many of the setbacks of the Yuuzhan Vong War (including the death of Chewbacca). Furthermore, Borsk was satisfied to let many planets be destroyed (such as Yavin IV)- in favor of saving core worlds such as Coruscant and Bothan space.

Despite his many flaws, in the end Borsk gave his life to save the galaxy. He bravely sacrificed himself in an effort to eliminate the Yuuzhan Vong war leader, Romm Zqar. As I said before, Borsk was no Palpatine. He was not intentionally evil and though he was often paranoid and power hungry- it can be said that he always acted in a way that he thought would benefit the New Republic.

“No one cares if their enemies die, and all those who are not on my side are my enemies.” ~Borsk Fey’lya