Psychotherapist here - I think it’s clear from an understanding of his psychology that he is not trying to lose. His behavior is much better explained by his long term narcissistic personality, cognitive decline, and his privilege and sheer luck. He doesn’t care about affordability or the middle class, we know that. He has faced no serious consequences for any of his criminality and immorality, due to his privilege and ridiculous luck. Voters have looked the other way over and over again. After a lifetime of these experiences, and being the type of person who wants what he wants and doesn’t care about other people, he is just not afraid enough to inhibit himself from doing just what he likes. He is surrounded by sycophants so he is not experiencing the reality that we are. And with aging, he’s experiencing cognitive decline which is also lowering his inhibitions further. Additionally I think he’s not inhibited right now because he doesn’t intend to follow the rules of democracy when elections come around - though I’m not sure he has a plan for how to get around them, I do not think he cares what the consequences are because he’s done following the rules. This is what happens to dictators over time - they become less afraid, more impulsive, more delusional, and more unable to inhibit their worst instincts.
If only our esteemed medical associations and boards spent more time considering the reality of the prior, current, and future forward analysis of professionals who coalesced around Bandy X Lee MD rather than acting as if Trump was another patient deserving normal process driven “treatment”. When a person is yelling delusional thoughts on a street corner it does not take an examination to assign various categorical descriptions to those behaviors.
Exactly. The American Psychiatric Association failed to educate the public about just how dangerous Narcissistic and Anti-social Personality Disorders are. I've witnessed more of Trump's behaviors than any of my patients over my 34 years of practice.
My comment to the APA: There's one thing worse than violating the Goldwater Rule, doing nothing while a psychopath ruins our country.
Agreed. Did you know the last living person who helped create the Goldwater Rule has said they never intended it to be employed the way it has been? George Conway did an excellent job speaking up about this stuff. It seems people have taken their scholarship way out of context.
I do see that Frau. My point was that he doesn’t think ahead, he really flies by the seat of his pants most of the time. His minions do think ahead and plan and are capable of being strategic. My sense is right now what Trump knows deeply is that he has no intention of accepting a loss in another election, and he’ll figure out the details of that as he goes.
Yeahhhhhh....except that his NAME will not be on the ballot in November. That's what he cares about. He has already won. DJT will simply blame the GOP for the loss(es). As he has said, "When Trump's name is not on the ballot, people don't show up as much." I'm not even sure he will stump for people on the ballot (which might actually hurt them at this point). Will he even be able to stand at that point?
Today IS Good Friday, when the white Christian Nationalists are supposed to mourn the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.
Since so many of these cultists think that Trump is the 2nd coming of Jesus, perhaps a crucifixion and resurrection on Sunday (or not) would prove the issue one way or another. Either way, it would be a "Good Friday." /s
Agree with all but the /s. I don't condone assassination of course, but it's a dead serious hypothetical question that needs to be asked of every one of his millions of worshippers. Every day, not just today. Especially those shyster religious "leaders" who claim - without evidence, as everyone in the cult does - that he was "sent by God."
Justin I have wondered if this could be true. I expected him to fight back when Dems did well in the midterms in 2022 but he didn’t really care. I have wondered if he doesn’t care enough about Congress/doesn’t think it will really impact him to make him more complacent. And yes, his name not being on the ballot matters. His narcissism can extend to include other people (meaning he feels someone is attempting to shame him through someone else’s mistake), at other times it doesn’t. I am not sure how it will go down, but I think we have enough evidence about them trying to rig the election in their favor to assume he is likely to fight and to take a loss personally. I don’t think he’ll succeed and maybe he won’t fight hard - we’ll see though.
I didn't mean to imply that I am not worried. I definitely think there is nefarious plotting happening. I just wonder if his will isn't as strong as it would be if he was literally on the ballot.
And since these tactics seem scary but aren’t likely to work, they are effectively distracting us from the hacking that is being done right now to manufacture huge blood red MAGA majorities in both the House and the Senate.
Excellent and concise analysis. He and the entire adminstration are clearly demonstrating that they have gone way past self-awareness, social norms, respect for institutions, and empathy for anyone other than themselves and their immediate orbit. They are the manifestations of their mutilated, unresolved childhoods: egos so fragile that cruelty and dominance is their only way to feel "ok" as they pass thru time.
DJT has given them permission to shed their false cloaks of civility and be the unseemly broken people that they are. No filters. Pure rot.
I dare say I have more respect for the Russian governement than I do of this current American regime. At least they still have a modicum of dignity and self-respect.
I must agree. As the offspring of two deeply narcissistic parents, I can attest to the persistence of these personalities. Everything is a battle of wills, without much regard for the damage done along the way. I walked away from my one living parent after years of aggravation and zero progress on the relationship. It was difficult but worth it for my own sanity and self-preservation. If only I could just end my relationship with Trump.
So sorry you had to deal with that. I had one moderately narcissistic parent and it was very difficult -- like a black hole distorting the gravitational field around it. And woe betide you if you crossed the event horizon!
I had a narcissistic parent as well Laura, I’m so sorry that was your experience. Going no contact is a good call, though I know it’s so gut wrenching to do ❤️🩹
Maybe it's inherent in his abhorrent characteristics and psychoses (you're the clinician so tell me if I'm misusing that word), but what always strikes me in his words and actions is his colossal shamelessness. It seems there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to shame him into doing or not doing something. I guess that's natural for narcissists....
Hi Michael, narcissists are actually much more full of shame than the average person. They just suppress the shame immediately and shift into their narcissistic strategy, for Trump this is fighting back, blaming, gaslighting, attacking, etc. They are almost universally not conscious of their shame. But narcissism exists because a person is deeply deeply insecure about their worthiness as a human being. Someone who is truly confident does not feel the need to lash out every time someone speaks against them, because it does not impact their sense of self-worth.
It’s true that nothing will change this for Trump. It is possible for narcissists to change but Trump clearly won’t. These patterns are too deeply ingrained. I’ve seen narcissists who are forced by circumstances to realize who they really are - it absolutely destroys them. It takes immense work to come back from that. He is running from his own psychological annihilation, and he won’t stop.
What you describe can also show up early, for example in playground bullies. Of course, later in life they grow up to be ... adult playground bullies. Or president.
I can't disagree with any of that, but I'm mush more interested with what's going on with his countless, shameless protectors, now in all 2 branches of government, plus countless lawyers and other operatives, from "Baghdad Bobbie" Leavitt, to his personal lawyer Blanche, his choice for the next DA, to his most likely, and much younger potential successor JDV. Any thoughts?
Some of them also probably have personality disorders, some of them think they'll be the "special" one he won't discard, some of them are trying to use him to climb the ladder or gain money or other advantage for themselves. Check out Bob Altemeyer's "The Authoritarians" -- has insight into some of the types of people who follow leaders like this. There's a free PDF available online if you search.
Not a psychotherapist, just a rambling armchair citizen; so:
I don’t think he is trying to lose, at least not consciously. I think he does not care.
The subconscious (or perhaps not) argument that he is trying to lose would be that he prefers, deep down in his narcissistic heart, to be a victim. If both houses are democratic then the more of a victim he is. Nothing is his fault, he is perfect in his greatness. Nothing can be accomplished with a Republican legislature that will ever be truly his and his alone, why else has the legislation proposed been lacking?
So the alternative is to claim the coming failures are not his fault.
AND. AND, everything is a distraction from the wealth he is generating from the graft, bribes and emoluments both foreign and domestic. That is the focus.
“Who can bring me offerings of more wealth, prestige and power; and what do I have to pretend to give for it?” The Iran War, affordability, loyalty etc are all secondary to his need to feed the hole of his ego-centric personality. Nothing will fill it.
Indeed. Long ago, when I was in clinical practice at the inpatient public-sector level and presented results of a psychological test battery to my clinical supervisor that confirmed not only narcissistic sociopathy, but also what we called sadistic stimulation, the discussion moved from just treatment recommendations to also include containment for the protection of others.
As unappealing a visual a naked Trump may be, it certainly does seem for certain now the emperor has no clothes. He and Hegseth may brag about destroying a 50 year old decrepit Iranian Navy and Air Force (many assets which were originally gifted from America to Shah in 1950s) but fact remains Strait of Hormuz is closed, uranium is still in Iran and any allies we might have had despise him and Netanyahu is using this crisis to seize Lebanon, West Bank and ignore Gaza, guaranteeing chaos for years to come.
Trump is a malignant narcissist who has released his inner psychopath since he was re-elected and feels, thanks to John Roberts et.al., that he is above the law. He is pursuing his happiness by enriching himself and putting his name on buildings while watching videos of his air force bombing foreign military installations and equipment. He's no longer bothering to fake empathy for other people - it's too much mental effort for him. Why try to appeal to hard-to-satisfy voters when he can just rig the midterms, as he plans to do?
He is highly unlikely to prevent them when he can rig them. He’s distracting us from the vote manipulation he has musk doing for him by signing all these executive orders restricting voting and by pushing the Steal Another Voting Election act. Sure, these are real tactics, but he knows they won’t work. He wants nothing more than blood red MAGA majorities in the House and the Senate. He will get them the same way he stole the 2024 election: by hacking into the system and flipping votes from Democrats to votes for Republicans, destroying votes for Democrats and creating votes for Republicans out of thin air.
This bit about acting like he wants to lose is just a new level of his sadism. He’s gonna screw over as many people as possible, and then make the election results show that he is overwhelmingly popular by fixing huge Republican majorities in Congress and state governments too. Then he will laugh at all of the people he screwed over whose Democratic votes were erased or flipped by his hackers.
Deep inside Trump knows that no one loves him. On a primal level he feels rage and wants to lash out and destroy. All the rest of his personality is twisted convolutions of ego.
Hmmmm. This thought popped into my head just today. Lots of discussion about whether Trump is actually aware of what he is doing and creates the chaos purposely- or really totally has no clue. I think you are onto something David. His self loathing is so deep he has to constantly create situations in which he “is the only one who can save us.” He could be a deeply psychotic person damaged at a very young age.
Catherine, Trump is insane. I mean really actually barking mad. That's why what he's doing looks crazy. That's the real reason. I think another important question might be: What are Vought and Thiel and that group up to in the background while Trump makes a spectacle of himself?
Trump has no love for gOP. He shares no ideology with them. It has been a marriage of convenience. Now that he is in his last term. He’s busy grifting and don’t need the GOP much.
Great in theory, but none of the ass-kissers in the Administration will take the lead, and the self-castrated Republicans on Capitol Hill won't do anything either.
Catherine: It's been obvious since Day One of either of Trump's administrations that he couldn't do more to destroy the Republican party IF HE TRIED!
I often wondered—since Trump is 100% "transactional"—if the DNC was PAYING him to do the things he was doing: COVID; pardoning the January 6th rioters; tariffs; threatening the annexation of Greenland; Renee Good; Alex Pretti; the Iran war; and ad infinitum!
And, since we're having this conversation: I'm absolutely amazed at all the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching over everything Trump does; people asking "Why is he doing that?"
Well, the answer is simple: it's because he's RUNNING A REALITY TV SHOW, as he did for 14 years with Mark Burnett! That's it; that's all you need to know.
Why did it take him three-plus hours to stop the January 6 rioters? Because it was "GOOD TELEVISION", and who stops "GOOD TELEVISION"?
Did the riot lead to deaths and mass destruction? Of course! But so what? To paraphrase Shakespeare: "The play's the thing", and, if a few unfortunates have to get their hair mussed to make sure people keep watching the "play", then so be it! Trump couldn't care less!
And the biggest "tell" of all (as poker players would say), was after the meeting in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelenskyy last February, where Trump (and Vance) "jumped all over" Zelenskyy, berating him for a myriad of things, the main one being: not showing enough gratitude over what the U. S. had done for him in his battle with Russia.
After that meeting, a reporter asked Trump, now alone, what the meeting had produced. Trump's answer: "I don't know what will come out of the meeting, but at least it was 'good television'" (sic).
That's right: after belittling a man who was losing hundreds, if not thousands, of his fellow countrymen every week, Trump's main takeaway from the meeting was that it was "good television"(!) Which is the exact moment that Trump should have been thrown out of office!
So, any attempt to rationalize anything Trump does without putting it in the context of him running a TV show is a total waste of time.
Re "Can they recover?": do you know anybody who WANTS them to?
And "recover" to WHAT: Ronald Reagan and his (apocryphal) "welfare queen",(read "Black lady"). driving her Cadillac from one welfare office to another; collecting one $400 check after another, for a total of, what, $2,000/month, while his defense contractor buddies were stealing BILLIONS from the treasury?
To George H. W. Bush, telling the Kurds: "You go after Saddam Hussein; we've got your back",and then TURNING his back on them, as Saddam slaughtered God-knows-how-many-of-them?
To H. W.'s son, and his unmatched-in-evil cohorts (at least until Donald Trump came along): Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Pearl, Limbaugh, etc?
Is that really anybody—outside of the MAGA morons and thugs—wants the Republicans to "recover" to?
Uh-uh: they've dug their own graves; now let them get buried in them, for as many generations as possible!
They have no idea what they’ll do after Trump, either. That’s why they’re hugging him so tight and trying their darndest to deploy every Republican vote-guarantee they can find.
The 2nd Gilded Age has arrived for the 0.1%, but no one else.
There was a similar outcome for the uber rich in the 1st Gilded Age. The came the Great Depression requiring FDR and the New Deal to restore sanity and affordability for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
Yes, I caught him saying , in an adult manner to a room, two days after it was announced he won. Was just a short snippet, only saw it on TV once, then the camera went off. They never play it, he said the days of opulence are now returned for us. I was absolutely disgusted.
One thing he knows well is bankruptcy. As he'd put it, he can feel when it's time in his bones. And in bankruptcy, you want to hand off official control so that someone else is "in charge" when it all finally comes crashing down.
I do wonder if a part of him wants democrats to win so that (a) he can blame them for the inevitable collapse that's coming over the next few years and (b) so he can spend that time whining about stolen elections and how it would all be great if it weren't for the democrats.
Actually it does make sense. There's not one single scumbag in that entire party that isn't benefitting finaincially in their fealty to the Orangutan. The higher up in the food chaiin, the greater the reward. These people have no allegiance to "country". That's polyanna shit is for the saps that they can so easily mine and manipulate: the MAGA-hat wearing, flag self-draping, merch-buying stalwarts of unfathomable ignorance.
"You have to be serious. When you want to be serious, you don't say the opposite every day of what you said the day before. And perhaps you shouldn't talk every day," Macron said.
Maybe. But I think the real question is whether he’s trying to take down the USA. It’s a crazy notion and yet if your goal were to ruin the country, you might do precisely the same things he’s doing.
Call it a conspiracy theory, but given DJT's life long modus operandi of grift, revenge and self-ingratiation, it makes perfect sense.
It is my deep belief that the thugs at the top already know that the midterms are rigged in their favour no mattter what happens. Elon 'Satan' Musk's mandate was - under the smokescreen of "DOGE" - a data-mining excercise of biblical proportions.
Instead of spending the time to hire seasoned veterans to examine facts before purging the government of supposed waste, he planted whiz-kid hackers who didn't know their asses from a hole in the ground, but certainly knew how to hack the system, extract the necessary data and transfer it to alternate safe harbours so that future elections would be rigged no matter how people vote... or if they are even ALLOWED to vote. ICE's current operations are the opening act for the midterms. "Practice" as it were.
I have no doubt in my mind that they have the midterms covered upside-down, backwards and sideways. They have plans A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J in place so that they'll never face consequences or justice. Otherwise why would any of these people (I'd rather call them barbarians) behave in such unconscionable manners if they didn't already know their future security wasn't in jeopardy?
There is way too much time between now and then for them to concretize the plans. The "people" need to step in now. All of the hydra's heads have to be removed.
I am afraid that what you say is true. There is no way the Republicans and Administration are going to allow free and fair elections. Those AHoles developed the playbook long ago. Our only hope is that blue state AGs and maybe, just maybe other state officials have set up mechanisms to thwart an election debacle
Although not officially declared, this is war. A war between the continuance of a system that, albeit flawed and certainly can use some serious updating and bolstering, at least functioned, versus the Republican vacuum of a vision for tomorrow, other than the tyranny of those currently in power.
I too believe Trump expects to rig the midterms and deny Democrats a majority. I think he believes he already has the means to do this. DOGE did the data collection he needed and he continues to pursue voter data in a recent executive order. I also think Maduro might be brought out in October to admit that, yes, Venezuela rigged the 2020 election. I forgot, there are still checks to be sent out later this year to many voters. Say $2000.
Everything he touches is destroyed , The Republican party is in a death ride and the riders aren't smart enough to get off . When the dust settles Trump will boast that he alone was responsible for it's pas success
Psychotherapist here - I think it’s clear from an understanding of his psychology that he is not trying to lose. His behavior is much better explained by his long term narcissistic personality, cognitive decline, and his privilege and sheer luck. He doesn’t care about affordability or the middle class, we know that. He has faced no serious consequences for any of his criminality and immorality, due to his privilege and ridiculous luck. Voters have looked the other way over and over again. After a lifetime of these experiences, and being the type of person who wants what he wants and doesn’t care about other people, he is just not afraid enough to inhibit himself from doing just what he likes. He is surrounded by sycophants so he is not experiencing the reality that we are. And with aging, he’s experiencing cognitive decline which is also lowering his inhibitions further. Additionally I think he’s not inhibited right now because he doesn’t intend to follow the rules of democracy when elections come around - though I’m not sure he has a plan for how to get around them, I do not think he cares what the consequences are because he’s done following the rules. This is what happens to dictators over time - they become less afraid, more impulsive, more delusional, and more unable to inhibit their worst instincts.
If only our esteemed medical associations and boards spent more time considering the reality of the prior, current, and future forward analysis of professionals who coalesced around Bandy X Lee MD rather than acting as if Trump was another patient deserving normal process driven “treatment”. When a person is yelling delusional thoughts on a street corner it does not take an examination to assign various categorical descriptions to those behaviors.
Exactly. The American Psychiatric Association failed to educate the public about just how dangerous Narcissistic and Anti-social Personality Disorders are. I've witnessed more of Trump's behaviors than any of my patients over my 34 years of practice.
My comment to the APA: There's one thing worse than violating the Goldwater Rule, doing nothing while a psychopath ruins our country.
Agreed. Did you know the last living person who helped create the Goldwater Rule has said they never intended it to be employed the way it has been? George Conway did an excellent job speaking up about this stuff. It seems people have taken their scholarship way out of context.
He’s trying to toss voters off the state rolls. He’s trying to get the SAVE Act passed. He’s talked about having ICE at polling stations.
I do see that Frau. My point was that he doesn’t think ahead, he really flies by the seat of his pants most of the time. His minions do think ahead and plan and are capable of being strategic. My sense is right now what Trump knows deeply is that he has no intention of accepting a loss in another election, and he’ll figure out the details of that as he goes.
Yeahhhhhh....except that his NAME will not be on the ballot in November. That's what he cares about. He has already won. DJT will simply blame the GOP for the loss(es). As he has said, "When Trump's name is not on the ballot, people don't show up as much." I'm not even sure he will stump for people on the ballot (which might actually hurt them at this point). Will he even be able to stand at that point?
Today IS Good Friday, when the white Christian Nationalists are supposed to mourn the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.
Since so many of these cultists think that Trump is the 2nd coming of Jesus, perhaps a crucifixion and resurrection on Sunday (or not) would prove the issue one way or another. Either way, it would be a "Good Friday." /s
Agree with all but the /s. I don't condone assassination of course, but it's a dead serious hypothetical question that needs to be asked of every one of his millions of worshippers. Every day, not just today. Especially those shyster religious "leaders" who claim - without evidence, as everyone in the cult does - that he was "sent by God."
Justin I have wondered if this could be true. I expected him to fight back when Dems did well in the midterms in 2022 but he didn’t really care. I have wondered if he doesn’t care enough about Congress/doesn’t think it will really impact him to make him more complacent. And yes, his name not being on the ballot matters. His narcissism can extend to include other people (meaning he feels someone is attempting to shame him through someone else’s mistake), at other times it doesn’t. I am not sure how it will go down, but I think we have enough evidence about them trying to rig the election in their favor to assume he is likely to fight and to take a loss personally. I don’t think he’ll succeed and maybe he won’t fight hard - we’ll see though.
I didn't mean to imply that I am not worried. I definitely think there is nefarious plotting happening. I just wonder if his will isn't as strong as it would be if he was literally on the ballot.
Could be.
And since these tactics seem scary but aren’t likely to work, they are effectively distracting us from the hacking that is being done right now to manufacture huge blood red MAGA majorities in both the House and the Senate.
Yes, it’s concerning.
Excellent and concise analysis. He and the entire adminstration are clearly demonstrating that they have gone way past self-awareness, social norms, respect for institutions, and empathy for anyone other than themselves and their immediate orbit. They are the manifestations of their mutilated, unresolved childhoods: egos so fragile that cruelty and dominance is their only way to feel "ok" as they pass thru time.
DJT has given them permission to shed their false cloaks of civility and be the unseemly broken people that they are. No filters. Pure rot.
I dare say I have more respect for the Russian governement than I do of this current American regime. At least they still have a modicum of dignity and self-respect.
Steve, I was with you til your last paragraph. I believe most Russian officials are more afraid of defenestration than of losing their dignity.
I must agree. As the offspring of two deeply narcissistic parents, I can attest to the persistence of these personalities. Everything is a battle of wills, without much regard for the damage done along the way. I walked away from my one living parent after years of aggravation and zero progress on the relationship. It was difficult but worth it for my own sanity and self-preservation. If only I could just end my relationship with Trump.
So sorry you had to deal with that. I had one moderately narcissistic parent and it was very difficult -- like a black hole distorting the gravitational field around it. And woe betide you if you crossed the event horizon!
I had a narcissistic parent as well Laura, I’m so sorry that was your experience. Going no contact is a good call, though I know it’s so gut wrenching to do ❤️🩹
Maybe it's inherent in his abhorrent characteristics and psychoses (you're the clinician so tell me if I'm misusing that word), but what always strikes me in his words and actions is his colossal shamelessness. It seems there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to shame him into doing or not doing something. I guess that's natural for narcissists....
Hi Michael, narcissists are actually much more full of shame than the average person. They just suppress the shame immediately and shift into their narcissistic strategy, for Trump this is fighting back, blaming, gaslighting, attacking, etc. They are almost universally not conscious of their shame. But narcissism exists because a person is deeply deeply insecure about their worthiness as a human being. Someone who is truly confident does not feel the need to lash out every time someone speaks against them, because it does not impact their sense of self-worth.
It’s true that nothing will change this for Trump. It is possible for narcissists to change but Trump clearly won’t. These patterns are too deeply ingrained. I’ve seen narcissists who are forced by circumstances to realize who they really are - it absolutely destroys them. It takes immense work to come back from that. He is running from his own psychological annihilation, and he won’t stop.
Agree. If anything, they get worse in old age.
What you describe can also show up early, for example in playground bullies. Of course, later in life they grow up to be ... adult playground bullies. Or president.
Which makes one wonder what kompromat Putin has on him... must be hors catégorie.
I can't disagree with any of that, but I'm mush more interested with what's going on with his countless, shameless protectors, now in all 2 branches of government, plus countless lawyers and other operatives, from "Baghdad Bobbie" Leavitt, to his personal lawyer Blanche, his choice for the next DA, to his most likely, and much younger potential successor JDV. Any thoughts?
Some of them also probably have personality disorders, some of them think they'll be the "special" one he won't discard, some of them are trying to use him to climb the ladder or gain money or other advantage for themselves. Check out Bob Altemeyer's "The Authoritarians" -- has insight into some of the types of people who follow leaders like this. There's a free PDF available online if you search.
Psychologist here: I think you’re absolutely right.
He's all id, no ego.
perhaps, that has entered my mind.
Not a psychotherapist, just a rambling armchair citizen; so:
I don’t think he is trying to lose, at least not consciously. I think he does not care.
The subconscious (or perhaps not) argument that he is trying to lose would be that he prefers, deep down in his narcissistic heart, to be a victim. If both houses are democratic then the more of a victim he is. Nothing is his fault, he is perfect in his greatness. Nothing can be accomplished with a Republican legislature that will ever be truly his and his alone, why else has the legislation proposed been lacking?
So the alternative is to claim the coming failures are not his fault.
AND. AND, everything is a distraction from the wealth he is generating from the graft, bribes and emoluments both foreign and domestic. That is the focus.
“Who can bring me offerings of more wealth, prestige and power; and what do I have to pretend to give for it?” The Iran War, affordability, loyalty etc are all secondary to his need to feed the hole of his ego-centric personality. Nothing will fill it.
It will not end until he is gone.
And he never wants to be gone.
*sigh*
Indeed. Long ago, when I was in clinical practice at the inpatient public-sector level and presented results of a psychological test battery to my clinical supervisor that confirmed not only narcissistic sociopathy, but also what we called sadistic stimulation, the discussion moved from just treatment recommendations to also include containment for the protection of others.
This is simply brilliant. I am not sufficiently narcissistic to say more than that.
I agree. He really does think he can shoot someone on 5th avenue and his supporters won't care. And it looks like it's true of 75% of Republicans.
I went on here to make a lot of the same points (yet without your eloquence and qualifications). Bravo!
As unappealing a visual a naked Trump may be, it certainly does seem for certain now the emperor has no clothes. He and Hegseth may brag about destroying a 50 year old decrepit Iranian Navy and Air Force (many assets which were originally gifted from America to Shah in 1950s) but fact remains Strait of Hormuz is closed, uranium is still in Iran and any allies we might have had despise him and Netanyahu is using this crisis to seize Lebanon, West Bank and ignore Gaza, guaranteeing chaos for years to come.
Well, other than that, everything's cool... don't know why you're getting so worked up!
[Sarcasmo font]
Trump is a malignant narcissist who has released his inner psychopath since he was re-elected and feels, thanks to John Roberts et.al., that he is above the law. He is pursuing his happiness by enriching himself and putting his name on buildings while watching videos of his air force bombing foreign military installations and equipment. He's no longer bothering to fake empathy for other people - it's too much mental effort for him. Why try to appeal to hard-to-satisfy voters when he can just rig the midterms, as he plans to do?
No. He knows he will prevent them so he doesn't give a $ h1t.
He is highly unlikely to prevent them when he can rig them. He’s distracting us from the vote manipulation he has musk doing for him by signing all these executive orders restricting voting and by pushing the Steal Another Voting Election act. Sure, these are real tactics, but he knows they won’t work. He wants nothing more than blood red MAGA majorities in the House and the Senate. He will get them the same way he stole the 2024 election: by hacking into the system and flipping votes from Democrats to votes for Republicans, destroying votes for Democrats and creating votes for Republicans out of thin air.
This bit about acting like he wants to lose is just a new level of his sadism. He’s gonna screw over as many people as possible, and then make the election results show that he is overwhelmingly popular by fixing huge Republican majorities in Congress and state governments too. Then he will laugh at all of the people he screwed over whose Democratic votes were erased or flipped by his hackers.
He definitely doesn’t give a s—- but I’m not so optimistic that he prevent people hurting economically.
Deep inside Trump knows that no one loves him. On a primal level he feels rage and wants to lash out and destroy. All the rest of his personality is twisted convolutions of ego.
Hmmmm. This thought popped into my head just today. Lots of discussion about whether Trump is actually aware of what he is doing and creates the chaos purposely- or really totally has no clue. I think you are onto something David. His self loathing is so deep he has to constantly create situations in which he “is the only one who can save us.” He could be a deeply psychotic person damaged at a very young age.
I feel a kind of horrified pity for Trump. I feel bewilderment and rage for the millions who support him.
I fear a tantrum is coming
Catherine, Trump is insane. I mean really actually barking mad. That's why what he's doing looks crazy. That's the real reason. I think another important question might be: What are Vought and Thiel and that group up to in the background while Trump makes a spectacle of himself?
That's a real worry. Those two scare the shit outta me. Absolute evil.
Trump has no love for gOP. He shares no ideology with them. It has been a marriage of convenience. Now that he is in his last term. He’s busy grifting and don’t need the GOP much.
trump is a stupid, narcissistic sociopath who's obviouly slippng rapidly into senile dementia.
time for the 25th amendment, tho maybe after rhe midterms
Great in theory, but none of the ass-kissers in the Administration will take the lead, and the self-castrated Republicans on Capitol Hill won't do anything either.
Catherine: It's been obvious since Day One of either of Trump's administrations that he couldn't do more to destroy the Republican party IF HE TRIED!
I often wondered—since Trump is 100% "transactional"—if the DNC was PAYING him to do the things he was doing: COVID; pardoning the January 6th rioters; tariffs; threatening the annexation of Greenland; Renee Good; Alex Pretti; the Iran war; and ad infinitum!
And, since we're having this conversation: I'm absolutely amazed at all the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching over everything Trump does; people asking "Why is he doing that?"
Well, the answer is simple: it's because he's RUNNING A REALITY TV SHOW, as he did for 14 years with Mark Burnett! That's it; that's all you need to know.
Why did it take him three-plus hours to stop the January 6 rioters? Because it was "GOOD TELEVISION", and who stops "GOOD TELEVISION"?
Did the riot lead to deaths and mass destruction? Of course! But so what? To paraphrase Shakespeare: "The play's the thing", and, if a few unfortunates have to get their hair mussed to make sure people keep watching the "play", then so be it! Trump couldn't care less!
And the biggest "tell" of all (as poker players would say), was after the meeting in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelenskyy last February, where Trump (and Vance) "jumped all over" Zelenskyy, berating him for a myriad of things, the main one being: not showing enough gratitude over what the U. S. had done for him in his battle with Russia.
After that meeting, a reporter asked Trump, now alone, what the meeting had produced. Trump's answer: "I don't know what will come out of the meeting, but at least it was 'good television'" (sic).
That's right: after belittling a man who was losing hundreds, if not thousands, of his fellow countrymen every week, Trump's main takeaway from the meeting was that it was "good television"(!) Which is the exact moment that Trump should have been thrown out of office!
So, any attempt to rationalize anything Trump does without putting it in the context of him running a TV show is a total waste of time.
It does seem like he’s trying to destroy the Republican Party. I have no idea what they’re going to do after Trump. Can they recover?
Re "Can they recover?": do you know anybody who WANTS them to?
And "recover" to WHAT: Ronald Reagan and his (apocryphal) "welfare queen",(read "Black lady"). driving her Cadillac from one welfare office to another; collecting one $400 check after another, for a total of, what, $2,000/month, while his defense contractor buddies were stealing BILLIONS from the treasury?
To George H. W. Bush, telling the Kurds: "You go after Saddam Hussein; we've got your back",and then TURNING his back on them, as Saddam slaughtered God-knows-how-many-of-them?
To H. W.'s son, and his unmatched-in-evil cohorts (at least until Donald Trump came along): Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Pearl, Limbaugh, etc?
Is that really anybody—outside of the MAGA morons and thugs—wants the Republicans to "recover" to?
Uh-uh: they've dug their own graves; now let them get buried in them, for as many generations as possible!
They have no idea what they’ll do after Trump, either. That’s why they’re hugging him so tight and trying their darndest to deploy every Republican vote-guarantee they can find.
Sind Sie gewiss in oder aus Deutschland, Frau Katie?
"Some of you may die -- but that's a risk I'm willing to take." ~Lord Farquad
The 2nd Gilded Age has arrived for the 0.1%, but no one else.
There was a similar outcome for the uber rich in the 1st Gilded Age. The came the Great Depression requiring FDR and the New Deal to restore sanity and affordability for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
Yes, I caught him saying , in an adult manner to a room, two days after it was announced he won. Was just a short snippet, only saw it on TV once, then the camera went off. They never play it, he said the days of opulence are now returned for us. I was absolutely disgusted.
One thing he knows well is bankruptcy. As he'd put it, he can feel when it's time in his bones. And in bankruptcy, you want to hand off official control so that someone else is "in charge" when it all finally comes crashing down.
I do wonder if a part of him wants democrats to win so that (a) he can blame them for the inevitable collapse that's coming over the next few years and (b) so he can spend that time whining about stolen elections and how it would all be great if it weren't for the democrats.
He will be dead by then. And he knows it. So what does he care? “Apres moi, le deluge” (sorry, can’t get iPad to do accents).
He doesn't think that far ahead though the puppet masters may.
WHY is the Republican Party standing by and watching this death spiral of their country? It make no sense.
Actually it does make sense. There's not one single scumbag in that entire party that isn't benefitting finaincially in their fealty to the Orangutan. The higher up in the food chaiin, the greater the reward. These people have no allegiance to "country". That's polyanna shit is for the saps that they can so easily mine and manipulate: the MAGA-hat wearing, flag self-draping, merch-buying stalwarts of unfathomable ignorance.
"You have to be serious. When you want to be serious, you don't say the opposite every day of what you said the day before. And perhaps you shouldn't talk every day," Macron said.
Hah! He's just pretending to be crazy! Crazy like a FOX! He's just keeping his opponents off-balance!
Maybe. But I think the real question is whether he’s trying to take down the USA. It’s a crazy notion and yet if your goal were to ruin the country, you might do precisely the same things he’s doing.
I don't think that's an out of bounds idea. The US was insufficiently loyal to him in 2020 and he's not the type to forgive or forget.
I really believe he’s doing Putin’s bidding. Putin seems to be the only other one benefiting besides Trump.
Yep, Putin can’t believe his luck.
I can’t disagree. There’s really no other explanation for this series of decisions and behavior.
Call it a conspiracy theory, but given DJT's life long modus operandi of grift, revenge and self-ingratiation, it makes perfect sense.
It is my deep belief that the thugs at the top already know that the midterms are rigged in their favour no mattter what happens. Elon 'Satan' Musk's mandate was - under the smokescreen of "DOGE" - a data-mining excercise of biblical proportions.
Instead of spending the time to hire seasoned veterans to examine facts before purging the government of supposed waste, he planted whiz-kid hackers who didn't know their asses from a hole in the ground, but certainly knew how to hack the system, extract the necessary data and transfer it to alternate safe harbours so that future elections would be rigged no matter how people vote... or if they are even ALLOWED to vote. ICE's current operations are the opening act for the midterms. "Practice" as it were.
I have no doubt in my mind that they have the midterms covered upside-down, backwards and sideways. They have plans A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J in place so that they'll never face consequences or justice. Otherwise why would any of these people (I'd rather call them barbarians) behave in such unconscionable manners if they didn't already know their future security wasn't in jeopardy?
There is way too much time between now and then for them to concretize the plans. The "people" need to step in now. All of the hydra's heads have to be removed.
I am afraid that what you say is true. There is no way the Republicans and Administration are going to allow free and fair elections. Those AHoles developed the playbook long ago. Our only hope is that blue state AGs and maybe, just maybe other state officials have set up mechanisms to thwart an election debacle
Although not officially declared, this is war. A war between the continuance of a system that, albeit flawed and certainly can use some serious updating and bolstering, at least functioned, versus the Republican vacuum of a vision for tomorrow, other than the tyranny of those currently in power.
I too believe Trump expects to rig the midterms and deny Democrats a majority. I think he believes he already has the means to do this. DOGE did the data collection he needed and he continues to pursue voter data in a recent executive order. I also think Maduro might be brought out in October to admit that, yes, Venezuela rigged the 2020 election. I forgot, there are still checks to be sent out later this year to many voters. Say $2000.
Everything he touches is destroyed , The Republican party is in a death ride and the riders aren't smart enough to get off . When the dust settles Trump will boast that he alone was responsible for it's pas success
Per Rick Wilson: ETTD (everything Trump touches dies).