The Office of the Presidency of the USA commands respect. That inherent respect makes us reluctant to criticise any incumbent of the Office – and, when we do, to be as rational and polite as possible when raising doubts about, or objections, to any President’s performance.
It’s not only difficult but it also may be a waste of time trying to extend that courtesy to the current incumbent.
TRUMP THE THINKER
Trump is impervious to logic, ignorant of history and disinterested in the wants and needs of anyone but himself. He is so self-obsessed he lives within his own fantasy world where he increasingly behaves as if the sole arbiter of what’s right and wrong …and infallible to boot.
When confronted with such a personality normal debate and diplomacy are impotent. Trump only listens to what he wants to hear. Worse, he only hears what he wants to hear even when he pretends to be listening. If he hears a fact he doesn’t like he simply changes the fact, not his mind.
Trump repeatedly claims, for example, the US given Ukraine $350 billion – it’s less than half that figure. He claims the US’ contribution is bigger than the whole of Europe combined – wrong, it’s the other way round. One day (when emphasising America’s largesse) the President talks about the billions given to Ukraine, another day he’ll infer that such monies were only a loan (that will need to be repaid with a bonus by way of rare minerals). He never reminds the public that those billions of taxpayers’ dollars were largely spent buying arms from American companies, oops.
On the home front Trump boasts of huge savings made by DOGE (Musk). DOGE in its first announcement claimed to have saved billions of dollars in a few weeks. Five initiatives were cited. The biggest saving on the list was $8 billion, in reality it turned out to be $8million, oops. The biggest saving left on the list was for $1.9 billion. It turned out that saving was actioned by Biden not DOGE, oops. The following week four of the five items disappeared from DOGE’s website, without comment.
Economists (even the very best of them) rarely exhibit consensus on anything. There is an exception to this rule. Tariffs hurt consumers and they fuel inflation. That’s another reality Trump ignores. He seems incapable of understanding anything of even moderate complexity. He thinks like a real estate agent; he behaves as if everything is a simple buy and sell/win or lose transaction. Trump thinks such a simplistic approach is one of his major strengths. In fact, it’s one of his major weaknesses.
Facts and objective statistics are just playthings for Trump, rhetorical devices, malleable props to support his story telling. He selects and changes them at will to pretend his fantasies are reality. He lies so often he ends up believing his own bullshit. And that is dangerous. Very dangerous.
WHAT MOTIVATES TRUMP?
So, if facts, policy and government are mere playthings, toys in the mind of Trump, what really motivates him to remain on centre stage for so many hours nearly every day? Why is he obsessed about being so highly visible?
A good clue is to watch what he does most. Three things .
He spends time with his cabinet of courtiers, people who readily praise his Mafia like strategies as strokes of near genius. He spends time pumping up his ego by appearing on stage at rallies/events for longer than most star entertainers…. or appearing on TV more-so than any other American President has ever done. Finally, at home, he watches TV to see himself on screen and track what others are saying about him before hitting his keypad to fight his ‘enemies’ like a latter-day Don Quixote using “Tweets” in lieu of a pointed lance. Yes, he sees his family. Yes, he sleeps 4 to 5 hours a night and plays a round or two of golf on weekends. He is rarely alone. Whether at work or play he prefers to be surrounded by sycophants. This is not a normal lifestyle even for a much-pressured President. These are the symptoms of an insecure narcissist.
Why is Trump so insecure?
His childhood? A strong father widely known for playing it tough in one of the toughest real estate markets there is, New York set the standard. Fred was not only a success he was a self-made success. A tough act to follow. Trump had a lot to live up to.
Education? Trump went to a military academy (presumably for a bit of toughening up). He then went on to Fordham in the Bronx for two years before switching to Penn where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree, majoring in real estate.
He claims he was top of his class. He wasn’t. Nowhere near it, oops. Some would regard this need to be seen as ‘top dog’ as an early symptom of insecurity.
Influencers? Trump’s next step was to join his father’s business which, over time, he headed. Fred introduced Donald to the lawyer Roy Cohn (the lead lawyer for Sen. Joe McCarthy who led the communist witch hunt in the mid 1950s). Cohn was described as clever, cunning and an effective fixer – a power broker and mover and shaker. He was also described as sleazy. Many years later, Cohn was disbarred for “dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation”. Trump and Cohn formed a very close relationship, both business and personal. Cohn became Trump’s mentor. Many of Trump’s business tactics can readily be traced back to Cohn (never surrender, counter attack immediately, always claim victory never admit defeat). Trump regarded Cohn “a genius”. Cohn certainly taught Trump how to bully.
Both Trump and Cohn showed a childlike yearning to be liked – especially by the establishment to which their successful and powerful fathers never quite belonged. Both longed to be recognised by the elite of society. This particular form of insecurity was another bond between the older Cohn and the younger Trump.
It’s been suggested there might have been a psycho-sexual element to the relationship, at least as far as Cohn was concerned. Cohn died of Aids. An article in Vanity Fair (2017) speculates on the Cohn-Trump relationship in greater contextual depth than possible here. The only reason I’ve raised the issue is to drive home the point that theirs was a deep and complex relationship, an understanding of which may provide some insight into why Trump finds Putin such a mesmerising figure.
The roles played by Fred -Cohn – Putin in the life of The Donald are similar in many ways. Trump sought, indeed needed, their imprimatur to prove (to himself) that he’d really made it. He needs the approval of father-figures to feel whole. Freud would undoubtedly have provided a far more sophisticated explanation of the dynamics involved here. In time, I’m sure many an academic paper will also address such an hypothesis…when it’s safe to do so.
TRUMP THE TYCOON
Business success? Trump had a good start. His father left him the equivalent of US$400 million in today’s money. He’s certainly been a very active player for decades. He’s owned three casinos, an airline, built skyscrapers, resorts and golf courses. Today he is a multi-billionaire (Forbes estimates $5.7 billion), twice what he was worth after his first Presidency.
His balance sheet wasn’t always as robust. He came close to bankruptcy more than once . Many of his ventures failed. Perhaps surprisingly one of his biggest successes was the TV show, The Apprentice. That show not only turned out to be a financial boon, it also provided Trump with the entertainment platform from which he launched into the world of politics. Politics was his route into the halls of power and the Oval Office – a place from which he could demonstrate his sovereignty over the elite and reek revenge on those who once looked down on him.
Prior to politics money and glitz were all Trump had to command respect. Those credentials opened some doors, but not the portals he craved to walk through. Now he holds the Presidency for a second and last time, he relishes the elite bending the knee as he walks through them before holding audience from his throne (the TV camera). Yes, money has always been important to Trump, but it was never enough to satisfy his craving for recognition .
The law? Trump views the law as something to be manipulated rather than obeyed. It’s a business tool that he’s successfully used throughout his life to get what he wants. He was involved in over 4,000 court cases between 1973 and his first Presidency. That’s an average of around one hundred a year. That he rarely lost explains why he has such scant respect for the ‘rule of law’. Legal cases are just part of his entertainment mix.
IN CONCLUSION
Humanitarianism doesn’t drive Trump. Nor does money (except as a symbol of success), nor religion, a code of ethics, a political ideology, the quest for world peace …or even a vision for the future of America. All those things are but white noise, background static as far as he is concerned. Trump’s needs are personal and psychological, if not pathological. Big Baby will never be content until the big gang leaders of the world accept him as a peer or, preferably, elect him as their leader. Trump’s insatiable ego will lead to his inevitable downfall – and maybe ours.
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