Trump Demystified: Essential Diagnostics & Modus Operandi

After decades of attention seeking and self-branding, the slumlord’s celebrity son landed the role of a lifetime playing himself as a vainglorious know-it-all CEO firing the losers on a multi-year hit reality TV show which captured the imaginations of National Enquirer “readers” and Fox News zombies and then went on to win an electoral college victory and evict the free world from the sense of normality it had been taking for granted. Confusion reigned. Journalists and pundits speculated on Trump’s underlying thoughts and reasoning, the method presumed to underly the madness. Concerns about his mental status were raised but as one anchor noted, “. . . usually after the microphones have been turned off.”

Almost all the behavioral eccentricities of this chaotic President are erroneously attributed to narcissism. In actuality, Donald Trump is animated by three distinct yet synergistic personality disorders. Let’s start with the least familiar of these.

Histrionic (Hysterical) Personality Disorder

The psychiatric desk reference for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) defines this disorder as: “A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention.
2. Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior.
3. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions.
4. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self.
5. Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail.
6. Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion.
7. Is suggestible (i.e., easily influenced by others and circumstances).
8. Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.”

Histrionics are gregarious, charismatic people, often captivating and impossible to ignore. Early theorists called them “marketing personalities.” They are lively, talkative people to whom, appearance is everything. Not known for their fidelity, they are achievement oriented actors who push themselves onto the world in a way that reflects their need to be more than they are. They market themselves like a commodity. The result can be an empty product of a person, remarkable for its depthless superficiality.

In the process of marketing themselves, histrionics develop an acute awareness of their social impact. They become hyper-alert to any signs of indifference or disapproval in order to be able to shift their approach to ‘make the sale.’ This same vigilance makes them reactive to those less than attentive or approving. These are thin-skinned people. Any perceived criticism or slight arouses anger.

Typically histrionic, Trump is uncomfortable when he is not the center of attention. He can be soothed by flattery and is easily detonated by criticism or challenge. This vulnerability was immediately recognized and exploited by the Republican Party, wannabes looking for high profile jobs, sycophantic minions and other world leaders.

Histrionics are also distinguished by their conspicuously shallow, two-dimensional thought processes. Lacking intellectual curiosity, they also lack basic factual knowledge and understanding. Their perceptions tend to be impressionistic, general and unfocussed, without detail or sharpness. Their attention leaps to what is obvious, conventional and immediately apparent. Hunches are the end product, not the beginning of thought. Reason, logic and deeper analysis are the province of others and intolerably dull and boring.

Histrionics also tend to be naive, gullible and suggestible people, easily swayed by new input, opinions, transient events and/or the whims and enthusiasms of the moment. Trump shuns expertise in favor of his infallible gut: “I’m a great believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision . . . I ask and I ask, until I begin to get a gut feeling about something. And that’s when I make a decision.”

A histrionic cognitive style helps explain: a) why the man with the “best words” has enormous difficulty reading them from a teleprompter, b) his frequent malapropisms and mispronunciations and c) his tendency to slur words in a seemingly drunken fashion, e.g., his Jerusalem speech which inspired speculation that he experienced a stroke or even a denture malfunction. The White House claimed a “dry throat,” but few were persuaded.

Trump’s insufficiency of basic facts extends from the world, to geopolitics, to the American political system and its Constitution, all the way to how one goes about closing an umbrella. It has fostered a variety of seriously obtuse ideas, e.g., that you need ID to buy cereal, that asbestos insulation would have saved the world trade centre, that “environment friendly” light bulbs cause cancer and that physical exercise depletes the body’s finite store of energy and is to be avoided. In the midst of pandemic, he wondered about the possible salutary effects of UV light or “just very powerful light” applied “through the skin or in some other way,” and about disinfectant administered by “injection inside or almost a cleaning . . .”

Antisocial Personality Disorder

DSM-5 defines this disorder as: A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.
2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.
3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.
5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.
6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations.
7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

Antisocial Personality Disorders are more commonly known as “psychopaths” or “sociopaths” (at the turn of the last century they were loosely referred to as “moral idiots”). The title of Dr. Hervey Cleckey’s landmark 1941 study of psychopaths, The Mask of Sanity, conveys a fundamental truth about them, i.e., that they are able to pass as “normal” (often disarmingly so) but invariably reveal themselves to be unreliable, malevolent and dangerous.

Psychopaths are practiced liars who seek power over other people whom they deeply distrust and will ultimately reject. The are impulsive and aggressive. In Think Big: Make It Happen In Business and Life (2007) Trump expresses and justifies his malice by projecting it onto humanity in general:

“The world is a vicious and brutal place. We think we’re civilized. In truth it’s a cruel world and people are ruthless. They act nice to your face, but underneath they’re out to kill you. You have to know how to defend yourself. People will be mean and nasty and try to hurt you just for sport. Lions in the jungle only kill for food, but humans kill for fun. Even your friends are out to get you: they want your job, the want your house, they want your money, they want your wife, and they even want your dog. Those are your friends; your enemies are even worse!’

Psychopaths are unscrupulous, without conscience or capacity for guilt or shame. Risk-taking opportunists, they enjoy deceiving and taking advantage of others. They often end up in conflict with the law. Thousands have been cheated or defrauded by “Don the Con” over the decades, aided and abetted by teams of motivated lawyers. They are emotionally callous individuals with a penchant for unnecessary cruelty.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

DSM-5 defines this disorder as: A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior) need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five or more of the following:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements.
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believes that he or she is “special”and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
4. Requires excessive admiration.
5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
6. Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

Trump is widely known as a supreme narcissist with exorbitant self-esteem, self-confidence, senses of superiority and entitlement, all combined with the defense mechanisms — denial, projection, rationalization — necessary to maintain such a rosy perspective. The bad behaviors that give the lie to his inflated self regard are dismissed with alibis and self-serving spin.

Some perspective

Currently some ten personality disorders are recognized by psychiatry, “I have the best personality disorders . . . the absolute best . . . they’re all beautiful, they’re perfect . . . I have all three of them.” If Trump had actually said that, it would be a valid consideration. The other seven disorders do involve significantly less happy features. Each generates issues and angst sufficient to impair social and vocational functioning. Both narcissists and psychopaths (the “exploitative disorders”) are known for their lack of anxiety and distress but can be quite adept at engendering it in others. Histrionics are charming, sociable people who are good at sales and often also, natural leaders. They are mostly unperturbed by their shallow nature.

Personality traits become “disorders” when they are deemed extreme within a cultural context. A person may quite reasonably identify with some aspects of Trump’s three disorders. A complete absence of narcissism would be an absence of self worth. Being overly burdened by conscience and propriety might communicate that one is something of a ‘door mat’. Who of us is immune to making snap, superficial judgements from time to time? The difference that makes a collection of traits “disordered” has to do with their severity, inflexibility and pervasiveness across a broad array of situations. It ultimately comes down to a professional judgement call.

Trump is not a multiple personality disorder as in Sybil, played by Sally Field. When considering his behavior it can, however, be instructive to consider the parts played by the three disorders. Narcissism is gasoline for Trump’s histrionic and psychopathic tendencies, not necessarily the main event itself. It bolsters his confidence to sufficiently delusional levels that his gut reactions become the stuff of genius. His most amoral desires are simply his due as an extraordinarily superior human. Trump may owe his showmanship to his histrionic side but it is also a driver of the “buffoonery” that has always been part and parcel of his public persona. His psychopathy is the source of his machiavellian scheming, but his more public alter-ego tends to get in the way of its effectiveness. Trump would arguably be more dangerous if he were not quite so histrionic.

Modus Operandi

Is there a method to the madness? George Ross, Trump’s long time Senior Counsel (also a supporting player on The Apprentice) wrote a book about it, Trump Style Negotiation, (2006). Ross described a patently psychopathic methodology, albeit obliquely. Trump endorsed the book and its message in the forward, “I like to think of myself as a maverick, someone who is willing to do something no one else is willing to do.”

Trump broadens the definition of negotiation to be “the game of life.” Every interaction is a “negotiation” (advantage Trump when the other side isn’t aware they are in one). All of us are “negotiating” all the time according to this view — just more or less consciously and more or less effectively. Two year olds are the ultimate negotiators: “If they don’t get what they want right away, they lie on the floor and scream and hold their breath until they do get what they want . . . they don’t shut up until they win.”

There are no rules. Trump’s sole purpose is to win by any means including: “lying, cheating and deception.” He will earnestly engage only with powerful parties who have something he wants. When he holds all or most of the power, there will be no bargaining; he will simply overpower the other side and take what he wants. This happened to thousands of suppliers and working people he refused to pay and then tied up in court until they had to settle for pennies on the dollar. Imbued with the vast powers of the highest office in the land, a unilateral approach — with overreach, has become the standard for the executive branch of the United States.

Trump is known for assuming alias’s to misrepresent himself to reporters, e.g., respecting his popularity with women, what a good guy he really is or his fabulous imaginary wealth. As John Barron, he proffered false information to a journalist responsible for the Forbes 400 list, suggesting a net worth some 20 times actuality. This was, in fact, a series of very successful “negotiations” by which Trump conned his way onto the “Rich List” multiple times. It lent him a counterfeit cachet he used to advance himself in multiple ways up until the present day.

Ross archly described three contrived personas, the first two of which will undoubtedly seem familiar to readers. The first, “Ivan the Intimidator,” uses physical stature, reputation and an aggressive demeanor to dominate and control others. The second, “Know-it-all Charlie,” is a slight variant of Ivan, whose purpose is also to intimidate and dominate, in this instance by being the ultimate authority on everything.

The third, “Waffling Wilma,” is just the opposite. She is useful when one cannot take a position with confidence. Trump surprised some during his campaign when he accepted Mexican President Peña Nieto’s invitation to visit and then went on to be meek, mild and diffident with no mention of “the wall” Mexico was going to pay for.

Similarly, his visit to President Obama’s oval office two days after his election victory was striking because of Trump’s uncharacteristically respectful and almost timid demeanor. Waffling Wilma seemed genuinely honored to meet the incumbent President. This was, of course, a transitional moment between the birther movement Trump so vociferously led and a first term dedicated to destroying everything Obama stood for or achieved as President.

Being a facile bullshitter is the key skill in a successful con man’s job description. Princeton philosopher, Harry Frankfurt’s astute essay, On Bullshit, argues that bullshit is ubiquitous in advertising, public-relations and much of politics. He clarifies that bullshitters aren’t intentional liars; they are simply unconcerned with actual truth, as both tellers of truth and tellers of lies need to be. In order to to speak the truth or to tell a deliberate lie, one must focus on what is actually true. The bullshitter’s concern is only with themselves and whatever their agenda may be. The content of their speech is only passingly related to its purported purpose. Frankfurt likens it to “hot air:”

No more information is communicated than if the speaker had merely exhaled. There are similarities between hot air and excrement, incidentally, which make ‘hot air’ seem an especially suitable equivalent for ‘bullshit.’ Just as hot air is speech that has been emptied of all informative content, so excrement is matter from which everything nutritive is removed.

As the saying goes, “bullshit baffles brains.” It deflects, distracts and disorients. Once that is accomplished, the con man is almost home. Ross puts it more delicately. Trump, according to him, never reveals his true motive and almost always wants something quite different from what he says he wants:

“. . . success is going to depend on your ability to think in reverse, something Trump is a master of. Thinking in reverse comes into play when you make a proposal that is so outrageous that you know has no chance of acceptance in its raw form and then reversing your course and agreeing to modify your proposal to make it more acceptable to the other side. . . . The more bait you throw in the water, the more likely you will catch a fish.”

Ross published these words the same year Twitter was invented and it was only a few years until Trump became its most prolific user. He has always associated himself with media platforms that specialize in churning nonsense, i.e., blends of cockamamie falsehoods with tangential sprinkles of truth. Fair and balanced.

Thinking Big

Donald Trump prides himself on thinking big, “If you are going to think anyway, you might as well think big.” For years prior to his election, he was saved from bankruptcy by massive infusions of capital from wealthy Russians. Soon after assuming the Presidency, he began to undermine critical American institutions like the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA and the NSC as well as any and all media outlets that tried to hold him to account. Simultaneously he threatened longstanding relationships with Western allies, including the EU and NATO itself. This fueled speculation that he may have been compromised, perhaps by evidence of sexual or financial misconduct, and recruited as a Russian asset. If Trump was an asset (we can be assured the Russian government thinks of him as one) it was not because he was being blackmailed.

Trump has always been singularly inspired by money and power. He is motivated by carrots, not sticks. His demeanor in the presence of Vladimir Putin has been consistently adulatory, not fearful. Putin is reputedly the wealthiest single individual in the world. He has been in power for more than 20 years, often enjoying a high approval rating from his countrymen. He doesn’t just tweet insults at his detractors, he makes them go away. Becoming the totalitarian leader of an entire country that you and your cronies can loot and control is the ultimate “long con.” Vladimir Putin is Trump’s “ego ideal.” He is everything Trump aspires to be.

Trump may think big when it comes to the advancement of Donald Trump but when it comes to the United States of America, his thinking shrinks. By refusing to support the legally required transition planning process, Trump sabotaged the very possibility of effective government before even taking office. The sticking point according to Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk (2018), was that transition staff had to be paid out of campaign funds Trump controlled, “Fuck the law. I don’t give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money,” he yelled at Chris Christie, head of his transition team, “Chris, you and I are so smart that we can leave the victory party two hours early and do the transition ourselves.” Shortly thereafter, Christie was fired and the team’s work product trashed, appalling even to Steve Bannon, his fervent mentor and supporter: “I was fucking nervous as shit,” Bannon told friends, “I go ‘Holy fuck,” this guy [Trump] doesn’t know anything. And he doesn’t give a shit.”