Just to make sure that he is really checking every box in the “How to Be a Dictator” handbook, Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order that requires federal buildings in Washington to be given a “classical” look.

Specifically, that means their appearance should be modeled after the “forms, principles, and vocabulary of the architecture of Greek and Roman antiquity.”

The desire to give their capital cities an especially grandiose look is a common theme for authoritarians. Roman architecture, in particular, seems to be a popular choice in that regard because these leaders also tend to be megalomaniacs, and they like to envision themselves in the role of a Caesar who leads an all-powerful empire.

To be fair, it’s not just the preferred look of dictators. Many of the original federal buildings in Washington, DC, also mirrored this classical style.

The difference is that the Founding Fathers were not motivated by Rome’s military might, but rather by its (and ancient Greece’s) democratic ideals. To them, buildings like the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court were monuments reflecting those principles (which makes it somewhat ironic that actual memorials were later built in their honor).

The executive order even makes reference to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, noting that they “consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome,” and that they “sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary Republic with the antecedents of democracy in classical antiquity, reminding citizens not only of their rights but also their responsibilities in maintaining and perpetuating its institutions.”

Trump, of course, embodies none of these ideals and he is working hard to undermine American institutions in pursuit of power.

Conversely, he is certainly obsessed with being immortalized, for example by being added to Mount Rushmore, having his likeness appear on some form of US currency, or being given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since those things aren’t happening (yet), he has to make do with massive banners with his visage being displayed outside of federal buildings like the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor… and, as of Thursday, with reshaping the capital’s architecture.

Of course, it could be worse. At least the classical style he is championing in the executive order is aesthetically appealing.

That is not something that can be said about Trump’s sense of beauty, which includes smearing a thick layer of makeup on his face each day, women in his orbit displaying “Mar-a-Lago face” because the president seems to like that trashy look, and covering every inch of the Oval Office with gaudy decorations and baubles.

So let’s at least count ourselves lucky that the next federal building constructed in the nation’s capital (likely) won’t be covered in gold leaf.

In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.