Francis Fukuyama, a professor at Stanford University, admitted in an interview with The New York Times on 2026-01-31 that his 1992 prediction about Donald Trump was a complete misjudgment. ^[1] Francis Fukuyama, a 74-year-old political science professor at Stanford University, stated on January 31 that he misjudged Donald Trump's political ambitions. ^[2] Fukuyama acknowledged that his belief in using military hard power to spread democracy led to the Iraq invasion, which he now considers a mistake. ^[3] Fukuyama admitted that his belief in the self-regulating ability of free markets to maintain stable economic growth was proven wrong by the 2008 global financial crisis. ^[4] Fukuyama stated that he previously believed Trump would choose the path of becoming a wealthy man rather than a tyrant, but realized that wealth alone was not enough for him. ^[5] Fukuyama warned that if people become dissatisfied with the success of liberal democracy, they may try to destroy it. ^[6] In his 1992 book The End of History, Fukuyama predicted that Donald Trump, then a New York real estate developer, would focus only on accumulating wealth under democracy and capitalism. ^[7]