The following article contains spoilers for recent issues of Aquaman, by Dan Abnett and Stjepan Sejic.

Turn on your local or national news on any given day, and you’re almost guaranteed to find a news anchor quoting President Donald Trump, video of his latest news conference, or reactions to his latest Twitter rant. Life during the Trump administration has been… interesting, to say the least. Of course, this makes it ripe for creators to use as an influence when crafting new stories.

One of the more controversial and, frankly, unintended examples of this happened when Captain America uttered the words “Hail Hydra” and pledged his allegiance to the fascist regime in the lead-up to Marvel’s summer blockbuster Secret Empire. While that shocking development made its way into the larger news cycle, a more subtle — yet still significant – adaption of Trump’s reign began to take place over the summer in the pages of DC Comics’ Aquaman, from writer Dan Abnett and artist Stjepan Sejic.

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Gives Donald Trump a Supervillain Origin Story

The story arc, which began in Aquaman #25, involves King Arthur Curry of Atlantis being betrayed by his people in favor of a new ruler, Corum Rath. Though the way Aquaman was replaced as king was brutal (being stabbed and left for dead by a trusted confidant), it’s not the first time we’ve seen a new ruler of Atlantis. What makes this reign stand apart from previous usurpation are the personality traits Abnett has blessed Rath with, which make him an obvious stand-in for President Trump. Rath, a pretender to the throne, shares Trump’s xenophobic/racist beliefs, and essentially wants to deport out those who he deems unworthy of being Atlantean citizens. Sound familiar?

Trump built his presidential campaign on preserving America’s borders by restricting access to prospective citizens from mostly non-white countries. He and his followers believe these steps are keeping terroristic threats out of the United States, though the language reads as a racial ban rather than an attempt at providing genuine border security. One of King Rath’s first edicts was to purge Atlantis of “undesirables” – Atlanteans born with mutations that make them look physically different from what would be considered a “normal” Atlantean. The white supremacists that marched on Charlottesville, VA a few months ago, who were described as “very nice people” by President Trump, have a similar goal, often calling for the racial genocide of a group of people deemed “undesirable” or “not pure.”

Rulers like Trump and Rath look for any excuse to start a war. Trump and his followers want a culture war, while Rath is looking to start a war with the surface world above Atlantis. Rath’s promises of returning Atlantis back to its glory days of being the greatest nation on the planet sound so much like a Trump news conference, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn some of the dialogue is a word-for-word transcript of an actual speech.

Another avenue Rath has taken was to erect a magical shield around Atlantis to protect it from outside threats. This Crown of Thorns is equivalent to Trump’s ever-elusive Mexican border wall intended to keep illegal immigrants from venturing to America. What makes the Crown of Thorns even worse than the Mexican wall is that Rath’s enlisted the use of forbidden dark magic to create it, which hasn’t been used for a thousand years. Not only is Rath using fear of the outside world to rule over Atlantis with an iron grip, he’s also putting his people in danger by meddling with forces he doesn’t fully understand. A ruler is supposed to have the well-being of his people as a top priority. Instead, figureheads like President Trump and King Rath would rather do what’s in their personal best interest.

Every despot needs a support team who is loyal to their cause, so it’s no surprise to find underlings ready to make nice with new administration. While Trump has cycled through a number of different underlings during his short time as President of the United States, Rath has shrewdly recruited a core group of people to do his bidding in the Ninth Tride, also known as the slums of Atlantis. Krush is the gang lord of the Ninth Tride who is secretly doing favors for Rath in return for a pardon from being imprisoned, or worst yet, executed. At one point, Krush discovers the mysterious champion of the Ninth Tride is actually the former king, Arthur Curry. Krush’s intention is to ransom Arthur to Rath in order to remain under the new king’s radar, which is always a risky proposition. Henchmen like Krush — or, say, Reince Priebus — are kept around until they’re no longer useful.

The parallels between President Trump and King Rath are far from the only real-life scenarios playing out in Aquaman. With a segment of the United States population currently living in fear, some have longed for the days of former President Barack Obama, a situation mired in Atlantean citizens longing for Aquaman’s return. Anybody who steps forward as a savior of the people would be appreciated right now. The mute Ninth Tride resident Dolphin looks to Aquaman as the hero Atlantis deserves in its time of need.

The parallels here run deep; Obama is half white and half black, while Aquaman is part Atlantean and part surface dweller. They both tried to break down the decades of fear between different races to make the world a safer and better place. Unfortunately, that change appears to have been too much, both for Atlantis and the United States, as Obama and Aquaman were replaced by men with what can be described as… more traditional outlooks.

RELATED: Aquaman Endorses Trump’s Paris Accord Decision in Late Show Parody

Aquaman admits to Dolphin that he tried to save Atlantis once, and look where it got him — betrayed, and left for dead. He also tells Dolphin that someone else will have to save the city. Abnett has positioned Arthur’s wife, Mera, as a potential savior, but who would her analogue be in the real world? That’s a question Abnett and Sejic’s story, alas, cannot answer.