In my March 3, 2017 blog article, “Does Trump Have a Personality Disorder? An Analysis” I outlined the 13 signs and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder provided by the Mayo Clinic website and explained that every one of those signs and symptoms describe Trump perfectly.  Rather than repeat that exercise here, let me simply refer to a brief descriptive list of traits of a clinical narcissist and let you decide for yourself if they apply to Donald Trump.

I think we can agree that Trump qualifies, but in order to understand why he poses a danger to those around him and the country at large for at least the next two plus months we must also understand the underlying root causes of narcissistic behavior.  According to psychologists and psychiatrists who have studied the disorder, either because of their genetic makeup or their upbringing, or both (no one is completely sure) narcissists lack in self-love so they have an overwhelming need for the love of others that can never be adequately fulfilled. Lacking in that area they try to substitute the admiration and adoration of others. 

In a 10/28/20 article in Salon, Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a psychiatrist who has taught at Yale remarked,  “Those with pathological narcissism are abusive and dangerous because of their catastrophic neediness. Think of a drowning person gasping for air: a survival instinct that just may push you down in order to save one’s own life.  In the manner that the body needs oxygen, the soul needs love, and self-love is what a toxic narcissist is desperately lacking. This is why he must overcompensate, creating for himself a self-image where he is the best at everything, never wrong, better than all the experts, and a ‘stable genius.”

In the same Salon article, before the recent election, Dr. Ramani Durvasula, professor of psychology and expert on narcissistic personality disorder, predicted Trump’s behavior should he lose.  It will be like “watching a three-year-old refuse to go to bed.  They will just stand there, poignantly in their Superman pajamas and say NO, I am NOT going to bed, and drop to the ground and scream. Plan on an adult version of that.  As is often the case when a difficult personality style like this faces disappointment we tend to see a cascade of reactions – oppositionality, denial, rage, despair, paranoia, more rage, entitlement, victimhood, and vindictiveness.”

Unfortunately, Donald Trump is not some random, petulant three year old who is likely to eventually grow out of his childish behavior.  At least for the time being he is the most powerful person in the world.  There is virtually no limit to the damage he can inflict.  Dr Durvasula also stated in the Salon article, “It is far easier for the pathological narcissist to consider destroying himself and the world, especially its ‘laughing eyes,’ than to retreat into becoming a ‘loser’ and a ‘sucker’ – which to someone suffering from this condition will feel like psychic death.”

What we have seen thus far was perfectly predictable.  To a narcissist refusal to accept defeat is built in.  Someone like Trump, who really thinks that he is the best at everything, certainly doesn’t want to believe that the majority of American voters preferred someone “inferior” (in his opinion), like “Sleepy Joe”.  Remember that even after he was president elect in 2016, Trump refused to believe that Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote.  His reactions were and are now denial, rage and victimhood.  However, remember that a narcissist like Trump lives for the adoration of his supporters so he must also keep their allegiance at all costs.   He cannot afford to let them believe that he lost fair and square because he is deathly afraid that he will lose their respect and adoration.  Therefore, for multiple reason he must forever continue to push the idea the election was stolen from him. 

On the other hand, regardless of how much Trump lies to himself, and he and his enablers lie to the American people and push the democratic election norms past their breaking point, at some level Trump knows he has suffered a huge defeat.  In a narcissist such a loss often results in rage turned into pure vindictiveness and an overwhelming desire to destroy the opponent who defeated him and/or even the object, possession or person that was lost.  So not only is Trump actively trying to prove that he didn’t lose, at the same time he is doing his level best to ensure the Biden administration will not be successful as well.  Thus he will continue with his absolute refusal to in anyway proceed with a transition of power should his efforts to remain in the White House fail, as they certainly will.

As the most powerful man in the world for the next two months, it is not beyond the range of possibilities that as a true narcissist Trump might turn his rage on the source of his defeat, the country and its people.  He could take scorched a earth approach by making it extremely difficult to deal with the pandemic, take steps to destroy the economy, get us into a protracted war in the Middle East, or even push the nuclear button.  However Trump also sees himself as a survivor who was not destroyed by multiple bankruptcies. His urge to destroy will also be balanced by his need to maintain the adoration of his supporters so he can’t push his rage too hard for fear of losing them.   In my opinion this will limit the extent his vindictiveness.  

However, at the very least we can count on Trump to do his best to settle old scores and attempt to utterly destroy anyone who opposes his “I won” narrative and his efforts to overturn the election.  Any Republican leader who opposes those efforts on the grounds that they are destroying our democracy will draw the withering fire of both the president and his adoring acolytes. 

We should also not forget that people like Trump view accumulating an ever growing amount of wealth as the most tangible evidence of “winning” and that he craves the spotlight like a man dying of thirst craves water.  After he is out of office Trump will want a platform from which he can communicate with and continue to receive the adoration of his fans.  He will continue to publicly entertain the possibility that he might run again in 2024 as evidence of his continuing importance. But most importantly he wants a platform he can use to monetize his support among his biggest admirers.  I suspect that these needs will temper to some extent his normal narcissistic reactions to defeat.

I believe, or at least hope and pray that Trump’s other prerogatives will serve to keep him in check and prevent him from doing too much damage on his way out the door.

Cajun (Rick Guilbeau)   11/20/2020

Cajun (Rick Guilbeau)  1120/2020