Well, guys, I know that Trump memes may be a bit of low hanging fruit and that I am pruposefully reading further into it than I should be, but I just couldn't help myself.

The original offender. imgur mirror.

Now, the joke really only makes sense if you know nothing about Machiavelli, his works, or his political positions. It relies on the assumption that Machiavelli (referring specifically to his work The Prince) was a cynical defender of utility in the favor of dictators, princes, and strong rulers. This is clearly not the case, considering, you know, all of his other writings including Discourses on Livy.

Insofar as Rule 2 is concerned, this is bad politics on the part of the people making the joke, as Trump doesn't really fit with the political paradigms put forth in The Prince.

Now, to avoid getting too close to Rule 1, I will cite my favorite example of why Trump bears no relation to Machiavelli as inferred via The Prince, namely, his advise on the building of fortresses:

CHAPTER XX — ARE FORTRESSES, AND MANY OTHER THINGS TO WHICH PRINCES OFTEN RESORT, ADVANTAGEOUS OR HURTFUL?

...

Fortresses, therefore, are useful or not according to circumstances; if they do you good in one way they injure you in another. And this question can be reasoned thus: the prince who has more to fear from the people than from foreigners ought to build fortresses, but he who has more to fear from foreigners than from the people ought to leave them alone.

This is exactly the opposite of Trump's plan. He wants to build a fortress thousands of miles wide in order to protect him foreigners, rather than building a fortress to defend himself from those he has alienated on the inside.