What Makes Trump Tick?
Braggadocio is part and parcel of the Donald’s brand, “. . . the beauty of me is I’m very rich”,“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created”,“I can be more presidential than anybody, other than the great Abe Lincoln.” He even bragged about his penis size in a debate: “I guarantee you there is no problem . . . I guarantee you”. Pathological narcissists are better than you and me and self-confident to the point of delusion. There is a lack of empathy for others. They are defensive, devoid of insight and tend to project their flaws onto others. Personal misconduct is rationalized, denied and glossed over. Unlike most other personality disorders, “breakdowns” are rare. Narcissists, like psychopaths, tend to cause more unease and distress in others than they ever feel themselves.
Unprincipled Narcissists have both narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies. Immediately impressive by their inauthentic and overbearing manner, they are lacking in conscience, amoral and unscrupulous. They are risk-taking opportunists who enjoy exploiting and even swindling others. In point of fact, Trump has been involved in some 3,500 lawsuits, many brought by working people — carpenters, painters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate agents, etc., not paid for work provided. Small businesses were not paid for completed contracts and went bankrupt as a result. The Trump strategy was to tie up creditors in court. These disputes, were later won or settled at pennies on the dollar, disguised by nondisclosure clauses. Currently the New York Attorney General is suing Trump University for defrauding thousands of people during the financial crisis in what has been described as a classic bait and switch scam.
Strength and power are the themes of Trump’s story. In The Art of the Deal, he characterized himself as an aggressive child: “Much the way it is today, people either liked me a lot, or they didn’t like me at all . . . I was mostly interested in creating mischief, because for some reason I liked to stir things up, and I liked to test people:”
I punched my music teacher because I didn’t think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled. I’m not proud of that, but it’s clear evidence that even early on I had a tendency to stand up and make my opinions known in a very forceful way. The difference now is that I like to use my brain instead of my fists.
Trump highlighted the influence of his father, Fred: “ . . . a wonderful man, but he is also very much a business guy and strong and tough as hell.” Trump’s older brother Freddy was “just the opposite”, was frequently on “the short end” of confrontations, left home, “became discouraged”, and died in his early forties of alcoholism:
Fortunately for me , I was drawn to business very early, and I was never intimidated by my father, the way most people were. I stood up to him, and he respected that. We had a relationship that was almost businesslike. I sometimes wonder if we’d have gotten along so well if I hadn’t been as business-oriented as I am.
At the age of 13, Trump was sent to a military boarding school specializing in problematic youth. At 17 he was promoted to Captain: “I had total control over the cadets”, but was transferred a month later because of a hazing incident that occurred under his watch. An account of this incident by Michael Miller of the Washington Post documents Trump’s frenetic attempts to mitigate the story some 50 years later.
A former marine drill sergeant, Theodore Dobias, physically assaulted recalcitrant cadets according to Trump, but was an influence. Unlike most of his fellow students who “became nebbishes . . . I figured out what it would take to get Dobias on my side . . . I finessed him . . . What I did basically, was to convey that I respected his authority, but that he didn’t intimidate me.” Trump was similarly impressed with a “con man” Project Manager, “Irving:”, a “fabulous man . . . one of the greatest bullshit artists I’ve ever met.” Irving’s effectiveness was based on verbal abuse, intimidation and never showing fear. Trump compared him to a lion tamer:
You’ve seen these guys, maybe 150 pounds, who walk blithely into a cage where there’s a magnificent 800-pound lion pacing around. If that animal sensed any weakness or any fear, he’d destroy the trainer in a second. But instead the trainer cracks his whip, walks with authority, and, amazingly, the lion listens. Which is exactly what Irving did . . . except his whip was his mouth.”
These and other stories suggest a deliberate element in the Trump persona; in that sense he may truly be a self made man. Trump’s relentless self-aggrandizing also suggests underlying insecurity and a compensatory dynamic. For example, his assertions about being “very smart”, “having a very good brain” and unverified claims of having been “a top student” at Wharton, implies anxiety respecting his intellectual ability. This is also indicated by his attacks upon others as “dumb”, “idiots”, “morons” and “stupid”:
It is the level of stupidity that is incredible. I’m telling you, I used to use the word incompetent . . . Now I just call them stupid. I went to an Ivy League school. I’m very highly educated. I know words, I have the best words. I have the best, but there is no better word than stupid. Right? There is none, there is none.
Trump’s speeches are striking for their noise, repetition and superficiality. The same adjectives are used almost reflexively. Bad persons or events are “terrible”, “horrible” or “disgusting” and good persons or events are “great”, “amazing” and “fabulous”. These adjectives are often preceded by a “very” (or two or three) for emphasis. This type of rambling, depthless bluster is not only inarticulate but also “hysterical”, in the clinical sense of that word. Psychologist, David Shapiro described hysterical cognition as: “global, relatively diffuse, and lacking in sharpness, particularly in sharp detail . . . it is impressionistic.” Hysterical personalities are lacking in factual knowledge and heavily reliant on personal “hunches”. They are unlike most of us who understand our hunches to be preliminary, incomplete and quite possibly wrong:
… for the hysterical person, the hunch or the impression is the final, conscious cognitive product. It is often observed that hysterical people are relatively lacking in intellectual curiosity . . . an impressionistic style cognition comprised of hunches and quick, relatively passive impressions will tend to stop at the obvious, that which is easily and relatively immediately seen.
Hysterical personalities are hungry for attention and approval. Hypothesized to be inwardly empty, these people are striving to be more than they are and have adopted a marketing orientation to sell themselves. Others are treated well so long as they are attentive and approving; when they are not, hysterics react with anger or rage. They are interpersonally thin-skinned. Trump’s absurd counter-attacks on Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly and many others comes to mind in this regard.
Hysterical personalities also tend to be extremely suggestible, easily swayed by new opinions, old prejudices, transient events and whims or enthusiasms of the moment. Trump is obviously soothed by flattery and readily detonated by criticism or challenge. This is, of course, an exploitable weakness and seems a less than ideal quality in a President of the United States of America not to mention Leader of the Free World.
The combination of unprincipled narcissism and hysterical tendencies helps explain Trump’s vainglorious manner, unscrupulous interpersonal and business practices, the constant need for attention as well as his thin-skinned reactivity. It also illuminates the two-dimensional shallowness of his speechifying. Understanding these personality dynamics make him more predictable. What they don’t explain is how he so decisively overpowered 16 other Republican candidates. The strongman persona by which Trump defines himself, is what made him such an effective bully against “Low Energy Jeb”, “Lyin Ted” and “Little Marco”, as well as many in the television media. Trump is a lion tamer. This persona was designed to intimidate.
Trump further differentiated himself from the field by the classic authoritarian tactic of demonizing a pertinent out-group, in this instance undocumented Mexican immigrants. This message appealed directly to the high percentage of authoritarians in the Republican base, people who value order over freedom, unhappy with social change and distrustful of outsiders. Mathew MacWilliam’s national survey revealed that “authoritarianism”, as measured by four simple child-rearing questions, was the single best predictor of which voters would support Trump. There was no relationship between authoritarianism and support for any of the other Republican candidates.
The Authoritarian Personality was first studied by social scientists attempting to understand the rise of Adolph Hitler and the ensuing holocaust in Nazi Germany. The cornerstone of Hitler’s political advance was anti-Semitic propaganda. In 1939, Hermann Rauschning, provided the following quote from a conversation with Hitler:
Anti-Semitic propaganda in all countries is an almost indispensable medium for the extension of our political campaign. You will see how little time we shall need to upset the ideas and criteria of the whole world simply and purely by attacking Judaism.
In response to Raushning’s next question as to whether Jews must be destroyed, Hitler provided the following insight: “No” he replied, “We should then have to invent him. It is necessary to have a tangible enemy, not merely an abstract one.”
Authoritarianism has long been part and parcel of the body politic. Amanda Taub, vox.com, summarized political science research which documented the migration of authoritarians to the GOP from the Democratic Party, as the latter embraced more liberal causes over several decades. These people are also among those who have been most damaged by globalization and economic dislocation. They feel powerless and want a return to familiar values and hierarchies. According to Taub, “Trump embodies the classic authoritarian leadership style: simple, powerful and punitive.” “Make America Great Again” is the perfect slogan for his audience.
Trump’s triumph in the Republican Primary relied on a small slice of the electorate. In the general election the wisdom of a larger crowd will prevail. However, Democrats can be sanguine at their peril. MacWilliam’s research found plenty of authoritarians amongst Independents and even a few among Democrats. His research also revealed that fear of terrorism was the one other variable that predicted support for Trump. Plus, when non-authoritarians become fearful of external threat, they tend to start reacting like authoritarians. The idea that a “strongman” type candidate would better challenge ISIS, and the prevailing myth that business people have skill sets relevant to “getting things done”, will be very much in play this election. A terrorist event in the weeks preceding the election could be a significant factor.
A final note. One of Trump’s biggest advantages has been being consistently underestimated. Perhaps this has to do with decades of attention seeking and the “buffoon” image which has been fostered by comedy routines and which he himself has shamelessly played to. However, when Trump talks about “winning” he means that with every fibre of his being. For him, winning is probably the closest he gets to actual obsession. George Ross was Trump’s closest business associate (also a “co-star”on The Apprentice). Ross’s book Trump Style Negotiation is essentially a manual for winning in every situation. The bottom line — notwithstanding any of the preceding examination of personality dynamics, is that Donald John Trump is extremely shrewd and creative in the service of his vision. He is more strategic than many people think and is playing a long game. He will be ruthless and tenacious in advancing his cause. “Anything goes” in “Trump style negotiation”, including “lying, cheating and deception”.
