Greg Shapiro Interviewed in Dutch Newspaper TROUW weekend magazine De Verdieping
as seen 12 September, 2026
HERE COMES THE KING
Greg Shapiro ‘King Me’
interview by Rick Pullens (translation Google / Shapiro)
The American-Dutch comedian Greg Shapiro is puttering around barefoot in the back room/kitchen of his Amsterdam ground-floor home when the reporter arrives. The garden door is open, and a freshly baked blueberry cake sits on the table. The comedian and his wife Inez have just returned from France, where they spent six sweltering weeks at their house in the Creuse region.
With the smell of French wildfires in the air, Shapiro worked on King Me, a new show about Trump and America. Shapiro’s imitation of the president in the iconic ‘America First, Netherlands Second’ video went viral in 2017. “As soon as I start talking as Trump, people still whisper: ‘It’s that guy from that Lubach video.’”
In King Me, he once again takes aim at the US president, who is increasingly acting like a king. And this precisely in the year that America celebrates 250 years of independence. “The Netherlands has a low-key king who wants to be a ‘man of the people.’ While in America we have a president – who’s supposed to be man of the people – and wants to be king.”
Shapiro begins to speak in fluent ‘Dunglish’, a mix of Dutch and English. Inez – also his producer – joins them. She stays nearby to help Greg with tricky Dutch words and expressions. Otherwise, she promises to keep quiet, as she places coffee on the table.
During a try-out in June, you made no secret of the fact that you yourself are quite anti-Trump. Is it better for those with differing opinions not to come?
GS: In the show, I joke: “If you belong to that one percent of Dutch people who are still pro-Trump, I make you this promise: you won’t like this show and you are free to leave…: But I also say: “if you have a different opinion and want to discuss it, I will be there for you in the foyer after the show.”
Do people really come up to you afterwards?
GS: Sometimes. They’re often not 100 percent pro-Trump, but they do voice some right-wing sentiments. And there are quite a few of those in the Netherlands. But I like finding common ground after the show. Is it good that Trump says NATO member states should pay more for their own defense? Yes, there I agree.
Click here to read the full interview (in Dutch):
Trouw – De Verdieping