In Gladiator II, Denzel Washington plays a glamorous arms dealer and former gladiator who plots to control Rome.

The character, Macrinus, is based on an actual historical figure. But director Ridley Scott says that Macrinus is a bit like a certain modern-day politician.

When explaining the character’s (spoiler-free) backstory, Scott told The Hollywood Reporter, “[Macrinus] was a prisoner of war — probably at a North African state — and actually was taken to Rome probably as a gladiator. Survived. Got free. Got into the business of maybe making wine and bread. He evolved into a very rich merchant selling shit to the Roman armies — food, oil, wine, cloth, weapons, everything. He maybe had a million men spread around Europe. So he was a billionaire at the time, so why wouldn’t he [have ambitions toward the throne]? ‘Why not me?’ He’s also a gangster — very close to Trump. A clever gangster. He creates chaos and from chaos he can evolve.