Absolutely. Trump biographer and ghost writer, Michael Wolf, has said repeatedly the most important thing to Trump is attention. He’ll do anything to get attention-shock and outrageous. People must quit feeding him and normalizing his behavior.
Absolutely. Trump biographer and ghost writer, Michael Wolf, has said repeatedly the most important thing to Trump is attention. He’ll do anything to get attention-shock and outrageous. People must quit feeding him and normalizing his behavior.
Do the shrinks call this narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), where individuals seek attention to reinforce their sense of superiority, and borderline personality disorder (BPD), which can involve impulsive behaviors driven by fear of abandonment? In other words, the current president of the United States suffers from sever mental disorders??
I am not a trained mental health practitioner and so I’m not qualified to comment on whether or not he has a personality disorder. Some mental health practitioners have commented on his mental status. However, without extensive psychoanalysis, any discussion about his mental status is speculation. However, I have advanced education in leadership and organizational behavior. I analyzed over 40 academic, peer reviewed research articles that analyze various aspects of his leadership. His leadership behavior, practices, and decisions indicate patterns that someone would describe as “toxic.” What follows is five patterns that emerged from my analysis.
Trump has a dominant personality, as demonstrated by competitiveness, contentiousness, and aggression. He is “disruptive, but not constructive.” His verbal and nonverbal communication reflects his dominant personality through the use of intimidation, manipulation, exploitation, criticism, humiliation, and suppressing deliberation, aggressively pursuing his agenda versus building consensus. He dominates anything and anyone that is a perceived threat - a conversation, a meeting, an interview, perceived opponents, the media, and the news cycle. His method of negotiation is based on negative-sum or zero-sum economic transactions and involves intimidation and threat. Additionally, he uses derogatory nicknames for both the members of his own party and of the opposing party who cross him or do not adhere to his position. Also, he has been involved in over 4,000 lawsuits in his career, as he has sought to dominate his opponents.
Second, his moral judgment and decision-making reflects self-interest, self-affirmation, and self-promotion. He can be cooperative and demonstrate false sympathy if doing so is in his best interest. He demonstrates narcissistic behaviors and feeds the collective narcissism in American culture.
Third, Trump demonstrates a lack of emotional intelligence, which involves self-awareness and self-regulation of emotions, humility, awareness of others’ emotions, and helping others regulate their emotions and interpersonal relationships. In this regard, he demonstrates arrogance, impulsiveness, impatience, a quick temper, and a lack of empathy. He is skilled in one area of emotional intelligence - awareness of others’ emotions. However, instead of assisting others in regulating their emotions, he exacerbates and exploits them for his personal advantage.
Fourth, Trump is a performer, skilled in creating an attractive image. He is entertaining, as he emphasizes the spectacular and the outrageous. Trump’s rhetoric reinforces his image or brand as a successful businessman, exceptional problem solver, political outsider, self-made billionaire, and celebrity politician, whose lack of restraint creates the appearance of authenticity, credibility, and patriotism. As a reality television star, his show, The Apprentice, served as a vehicle for creating this image. His pervasive and blatant falsehoods support his brand, normalizes deception, and creates doubt about what is true and false. His rhetorical performances undermine the foundations of democratic communication, render truth ambiguous, and create conditions in which “personal beliefs and feelings are more influential in forming public opinion than objective facts.”
Fifth, Trump operates on the basis of the paranoid position. He reacts to challenges with victimization, rage, envy, obsession with revenge, and dwelling on past injuries. His rhetoric consists of victimhood, as he emphasizes the real, imagined, and fabricated threats against “real Americans” and responds with rage and childish attacks against any perceived threat - the elite, the pluralists, the globalists, the intellectuals, immigrants, Muslims, and minorities. He creates division between the in-group and the out-group. He is suspicious of outsiders and insiders. He exploits emotions, creates despair, and identifies scapegoats to blame for the desperate situation he has created for his followers’ perception.
Several years ago, an analysis of the TV character Tony Soprano was conducted, highlighting his antisocial traits such as dominance, aggression, manipulation, and exploitation, which were essential for controlling his criminal empire. Tony’s behaviors aligned with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), marked by entitlement and self-promotion, while his emotional intelligence was limited, showing impulsiveness and emotional exploitation. Tony’s leadership style involved deception and the projection of strength, reflecting Machiavellianism to gain personal advantage. Additionally, Tony's behavior exhibited paranoia, resulting in suspicion, rage, envy, and revenge. This analysis raised a question: Is Trump's behavior a calculated act for his followers, or is it authentic? If it is an act, what influences people to perceive such traits as presidential, and why does this perspective exist?
Absolutely. Trump biographer and ghost writer, Michael Wolf, has said repeatedly the most important thing to Trump is attention. He’ll do anything to get attention-shock and outrageous. People must quit feeding him and normalizing his behavior.
Do the shrinks call this narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), where individuals seek attention to reinforce their sense of superiority, and borderline personality disorder (BPD), which can involve impulsive behaviors driven by fear of abandonment? In other words, the current president of the United States suffers from sever mental disorders??
I am not a trained mental health practitioner and so I’m not qualified to comment on whether or not he has a personality disorder. Some mental health practitioners have commented on his mental status. However, without extensive psychoanalysis, any discussion about his mental status is speculation. However, I have advanced education in leadership and organizational behavior. I analyzed over 40 academic, peer reviewed research articles that analyze various aspects of his leadership. His leadership behavior, practices, and decisions indicate patterns that someone would describe as “toxic.” What follows is five patterns that emerged from my analysis.
Trump has a dominant personality, as demonstrated by competitiveness, contentiousness, and aggression. He is “disruptive, but not constructive.” His verbal and nonverbal communication reflects his dominant personality through the use of intimidation, manipulation, exploitation, criticism, humiliation, and suppressing deliberation, aggressively pursuing his agenda versus building consensus. He dominates anything and anyone that is a perceived threat - a conversation, a meeting, an interview, perceived opponents, the media, and the news cycle. His method of negotiation is based on negative-sum or zero-sum economic transactions and involves intimidation and threat. Additionally, he uses derogatory nicknames for both the members of his own party and of the opposing party who cross him or do not adhere to his position. Also, he has been involved in over 4,000 lawsuits in his career, as he has sought to dominate his opponents.
Second, his moral judgment and decision-making reflects self-interest, self-affirmation, and self-promotion. He can be cooperative and demonstrate false sympathy if doing so is in his best interest. He demonstrates narcissistic behaviors and feeds the collective narcissism in American culture.
Third, Trump demonstrates a lack of emotional intelligence, which involves self-awareness and self-regulation of emotions, humility, awareness of others’ emotions, and helping others regulate their emotions and interpersonal relationships. In this regard, he demonstrates arrogance, impulsiveness, impatience, a quick temper, and a lack of empathy. He is skilled in one area of emotional intelligence - awareness of others’ emotions. However, instead of assisting others in regulating their emotions, he exacerbates and exploits them for his personal advantage.
Fourth, Trump is a performer, skilled in creating an attractive image. He is entertaining, as he emphasizes the spectacular and the outrageous. Trump’s rhetoric reinforces his image or brand as a successful businessman, exceptional problem solver, political outsider, self-made billionaire, and celebrity politician, whose lack of restraint creates the appearance of authenticity, credibility, and patriotism. As a reality television star, his show, The Apprentice, served as a vehicle for creating this image. His pervasive and blatant falsehoods support his brand, normalizes deception, and creates doubt about what is true and false. His rhetorical performances undermine the foundations of democratic communication, render truth ambiguous, and create conditions in which “personal beliefs and feelings are more influential in forming public opinion than objective facts.”
Fifth, Trump operates on the basis of the paranoid position. He reacts to challenges with victimization, rage, envy, obsession with revenge, and dwelling on past injuries. His rhetoric consists of victimhood, as he emphasizes the real, imagined, and fabricated threats against “real Americans” and responds with rage and childish attacks against any perceived threat - the elite, the pluralists, the globalists, the intellectuals, immigrants, Muslims, and minorities. He creates division between the in-group and the out-group. He is suspicious of outsiders and insiders. He exploits emotions, creates despair, and identifies scapegoats to blame for the desperate situation he has created for his followers’ perception.
Several years ago, an analysis of the TV character Tony Soprano was conducted, highlighting his antisocial traits such as dominance, aggression, manipulation, and exploitation, which were essential for controlling his criminal empire. Tony’s behaviors aligned with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), marked by entitlement and self-promotion, while his emotional intelligence was limited, showing impulsiveness and emotional exploitation. Tony’s leadership style involved deception and the projection of strength, reflecting Machiavellianism to gain personal advantage. Additionally, Tony's behavior exhibited paranoia, resulting in suspicion, rage, envy, and revenge. This analysis raised a question: Is Trump's behavior a calculated act for his followers, or is it authentic? If it is an act, what influences people to perceive such traits as presidential, and why does this perspective exist?