“I don’t know if this president is aware that the movie says these [characters] are fascists without knowing that they’re fascists,” Paul Verhoeven said.

Paul Verhoeven says *Starship Troopers *is about ‘Nazis’ after President Trump suggests military uniforms inspired by film

“I don’t know if this president is aware that the movie says these [characters] are fascists without knowing that they’re fascists,” Paul Verhoeven said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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September 15, 2026 9:15 p.m. ET

Donald Trump; Neil Patrick Harris in ‘Starship Troopers’. Credit:

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty; TriStar Pictures/Everett

- President Trump shared an image of potential new Space Force uniforms inspired by *Starship Troopers* costumes.

- Director Paul Verhoeven reiterated that the film is about “Nazis.”

- “I don’t know if this president is aware that the movie says these [characters] are fascists without knowing that they’re fascists,” he added.

President Trump shared a mockup of potential new Space Force uniforms inspired by *Starship Troopers*. Now, the director of the film is speaking out about its message being fundamentally misunderstood.

Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch filmmaker behind satire-infused movies like *RoboCop* and *Showgirls*, spoke with *THR* about *Starship Troopers* inspiring designs for the United States Space Force.

“It’s an honor, isn’t it?” Verhoeven joked. “When [the Trump administration] talks about *Starship Troopers*, they should be aware that it’s based on the style of Leni Riefenstahl.” Riefenstahl was a German documentary filmmaker whose name is now synonymous with Nazi collaboration for her propaganda films like *Triumph of the Will* glorifying Hitler’s regime.

Paul Verhoeven in Cannes, France, on July 10, 2021.

Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency via Getty

“I don’t know if this president is aware that the movie says these [characters] are fascists without knowing that they’re fascists,” Verhoeven said. “That’s the point.”

** has reached out to the White House for comment.

1997’s *Starship Troopers* followed young men and women who enlist in the United Citizen Federation and battle insect-like alien enemies. Verhoeven modeled aspects of the film after Nazi propaganda, and many critics believe the film intentionally glorifies its heroes’ militaristic violence and dehumanizes their enemies to comment on fascism and authoritarianism.

Trump shared an image showing off potential new designs for Space Force uniforms on Truth Social on Sept. 6. The image includes text that says the uniforms are “inspired by the discipline and functionality of the Starship Trooper uniform” and “modernized for the guardian of the space domain.”

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Verhoeven said that the Trump administration is not the first group to potentially miss the point of the film, as audiences the world over have enjoyed the film without picking up on its satirical edge.

“Its heroes are, without knowing, Nazis,” the *Basic Instinct* filmmaker said. “That’s been a problem. I thought people would understand and laugh about it. But that was not the case.”

‘Starship Troopers’.

TriStar Pictures/ Everett

Verhoeven is baffled by contemporary American politics. “I’m a Dutch citizen, and I cannot vote,” he said. “I’ve been here in this country for 40 years and it’s still difficult for me to understand the political culture here in America.”

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The filmmaker also indicated that some of the people who contributed to the film might not have known that the film was a satire. “Many of the people who were working on the movie were disappointed when they saw the result,” he notes. “I knew what I was doing, but I don’t know if many of the actors and actresses realized.”

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