“America First…alternative facts.”
These words are all about Donald Trump’s effort to reshape our country into his image. “America first” is the collective version of “me first.” “Alternative facts” is an euphemism for telling lies.
Donald Trump is a “me-first” guy who has shown no regard for truth, and he wants the country to be just like himself.
The reason Trump speaks and acts as he does is widely known and, I am afraid, widely dismissed as insignificant.
That reason is narcissism.
Therapist friends of mine say that Trump has all the symptoms of narcissism, which is a personality disorder, defined as “extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own abilities and a craving for admiration, leading a person to become manipulative and easily angered.”
Narcissists function in a world that revolves around them. When they speak, it is about themselves. When they react to others, it is all about how they think they have been treated and nothing else.
Narcissists can focus attention at a birthday party for someone else on themselves at the drop of a hat. We saw a version of this when Trump visited CIA headquarters last weekend, prompting former Republican CIA Director Mike Hayden to say in an email: “I was heartened that the President gave a speech at CIA. It would have been even better if more of it had been about CIA.”
It wasn’t because nothing Trump does is about anything or anyone but himself.
Narcissism controls his worldview. It makes him believe that people are either for or against him, but in either case it is always about him.
Narcissism makes Trump all the more vulnerable to believing stories he himself makes up such as losing the popular vote because thousands of illegal immigrants voted, or that the press was deliberately distorting the size of the inaugural crowd to make him look bad.
There is no rhyme or reason to these claims because there is no rhyme or reason to the way narcissists think.
Perhaps more alarming than anything is the fact that there is no medication or therapy for the problem. This is the case with virtually all personality disorders. I did read one article by a psychologist who believes narcissistic patterns can be somewhat altered if the narcissist is willing to work on it and he or she has people around them to help.
Neither is the case with Trump, which means the nation is stuck with him just as he is.
Let me be clear. I am not criticizing Donald Trump for suffering from narcissism. I am only underscoring the fact that his condition is not something to be dismissed as if it is just one of many personality traits people have, some good and some bad.
Personality disorders are not only serious. They are dangerous.
So far as I know our nation has never faced anything like this. We now have a president with a certifiable psychological problem, the consequence of which might become catastrophic.
Whether or not Trump’s narcissism will allow him to survive four years of the constant barrage of criticism presidents face or having Congress refuse to go along with what he wants to do remains to be seen.
Whatever happens, he and the nation are in for some very difficult and unsettling times, suggesting that describing Trump’s presidency as unlike anything we have seen before is an understatement of epic proportions.
linnposts.com 
Sam Vaknin is the leading expert on this subject if anyone is interested in learning more about it. He has several videos on U-tube, one that specifically addresses donald trump.
Thank you for this info, Liza.
Thanks, Liza for the tip on the video. Where do I go to get it?
Jan, I think your analysis is pretty close to reality. I think our country is headed for some unpredictable, wild, and wooly times for the next four years. My hope is that we do not repeat this mistake and I hope we survive the one we have already made.
I hope that he won’t be in office for four years.
It’s crap shoot any way we go, Kay. The people who voted for him either have no idea what they have done or don’t care. I suspect it is the latter. Very sad.
I hope so, too, Wally, but for the first time in my life I am not sure about our future at all.
Wild ride, probably. Stop and look at all the people WITHOUT JOBS because of Obama policies, a president who could not make a nation run at all. SO MANY people are P-O’d about lack of concern for middle class, middle America self-esteem, self worth when they had to go “on the dole” for food stamps, etc. DJT was not the most “P.C.” person on the platform, but he appeared to many to be one angry bull who could break through the fence of Washington D.C. politicians who did nothing — ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. And in so many segments of people. 20 Trillion debt for starters. More murders in some cities than there are in Iraq or Afganistan. So he’s starting out following B.O. example of signing Presidential fiats about this and that, because Dems are holding up cabinet appointments where decisions should come from. Without any degree in psychology, you can call him anything you want; you are not a legitimate source for name-calling. DJT a bucking bronco right now and he is moving fast. Even Dem. labor unions like what they see, because B.O. took them for granted, didn’t care that jobs were going overseas. Dems are losing their labor constituancy, and they brought it on themselves.
I approved your comment only so others can see how utterly uniformed Trump supporters are. The first thing you say is that people are without jobs and that is Obama’s fault when the truth is, he came into office when unemployment was near 10 percent and he left with it at an historic low under 5 percent. You proved in that one statement that you do not care about facts, making nothing you say worth taking seriously.
Jan, Glad you did allow Emily’s post to appear. As you suggest, she epitomizes the ill-informed, willfully-ignorant folks who fell for DT’s bullshit!
Bill
You said it better than I did, Bill. Thanks.
Much of the “Do Nothing” in Washington during the Obama years came about as a result of Republican obstructionism in Congress.
That is another point Trump Republicans ignore, Wally. These people have NO integrity, which is why they have no credibility. They would have cheered Hitler.
Yep Jan, You just proved almost all your points wrong by your own words. Then I can prove anything you say by just proving “ONE” thing wrong with what you say. Did I hear you correctly, how ludicrous is that!
B.O. did not count you as unemployed unless you were on “unemployment”. I know, I’m one of them. I had to get 2 part-time jobs 2 years after my unemployment status ran out. So yes he created a lot of “part-time” jobs(at minimum wage) when I got laid off from my 50k job in 09. If you take the real unemployment rate seriously it is currently at 13 to 17%. I thought I had to prove everything you say as inaccurate or overly exaggerated. This will save me a lot of time. Reagan had it under REAL 5% unemployment.
A friend of mine had over 65 full time employees, she now employs 3 full time and 90 part time employees with the sole purpose of staying in business due to the ACA. BUT she has MORE employees therefor more JOBS.
Remember: “If you like you doctor…” or how about “this riot was started by a protest over a movie….”.
All you are interested in is proving Obama was the cause of everything bad. Here are the facts. The official unemployment rate is 4.9%, the real (which includes part-time, those who have quit looking for a job, etc.) is 9.9%. Compare that to Obama’s first three years when he was dealing with Bush’s Great Recession impact: (2009) 7.8 vs. 14.2; (2010) 9.8 vs. 16.7; (2011) 9.1 vs. 16.2.
What these figures show is that you blame Obama for your troubles when he saved our economy from falling into a 1929 type of Depression. I am sorry you have not been able to find fulltime employment, but if anyone is to blame it is the Republicans you support. They fought Obama every step of the way instead of working with him. Had they done the latter, the economy would be even better and you might have a full-time job equal to what you had. Yet you never mention their obstructionism.
It is such a distorted view when people like you blame Obama for everything as if he inherited an economy that was booming instead of one that was on the brink of disaster. He saved our economy, period. Do I wish it were better? Yes, and it would have been had Republicans put the country before their own party.
As for what you said about Reagan, the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not start calculating REAL unemployment until 1995. Once you again, facts matter.
Yes, you are right on again, NOT! I was wondering why I NEVER heard unemployment facts until then! Must have been Nixon/Ford/Carter/Reagan/Bush were flying blind! Pick your facts that fit your narrative. I worked for a state division of employment during that time period and we must have had made up numbers. Boy were we mislead! NOT!
He did say US republicans could come along for the ride, but we’d have to “sit in the back”. Maybe if he would have accepted ANYTHING we put forth, he might have gotten a little more support. Don’t forget about the last minute $200,000,000.00 he gave the Palestinians on his last day in office or should I say Hours, that was already rejected by congress! SLAPPED again on the way out the door! But we still can’t get proper medical care for our wounded soldiers, and not one person has been fired (without pay). FACT!
You just will not listen. I did not say there were no unemployment figures before 1995. I said there were no reports measuring REAL unemployment. Guess you didn’t want to admit that the “REAL unemployment” figure you quoted for the Reagan years you either made up or came from a source that didn’t know such records never got started until seven years after he left office.
You are either a radical Republican who cares nothing for facts or you have a racial hatred for Obama that accounts for why you think he is the devil incarnate. Either way, you will get no sympathy from this blog. I deal in actual facts, not in “alternative facts.” You might want to find a blog that does the latter.
Jan,
Is JM a real person or an automaton programmed by Fox News and/or Rush Limbaugh? If I were him/her, I would plead guilty to the latter so as not to be identified as a moron 🙂
Bill
Bill, once again, you expressed it as well as anyone could.
Well, JM, did you notice the snarkiness of bblackandnan with a ‘second’ from linnposts? I guess we shall have to give it some time for them to eat their own words. Just keep this in mind: Liberals are in such a sorry state right now that they can’t think straight, and simply do a lot of naval-gazing, trying to find “importance” in their failing causes. Reality is not their game. What I try to do in times like this is to laugh at them and forget them–not worth remembering. Once a (married) couple I was having difficulties with were coming out of voting in an election, and I called out “Nice day for an election!” (meaning the weather). Did not turn nor comment. Repeated “Have a nice day!” Looked straight ahead heading for their car. Another person observed and smiled at me, so I said to her “Well, maybe I could be wrong . . . and then maybe NOT!” We had a good laugh at their nasty behavior. We were laughing AT, not “with”; Also FACT: accusations (above) by Wally & Bill that “Reps. were obstructing” when FACT Harry Reid NEVER brought up House bills into the Senate for consideration or voting. Believe he did that at the behest of B.O. so B.O. wouldn’t get involved with a rejection should any bill actually pass both houses and he didn’t want to sign. I wasn’t a DJT supporter until the general election, and then there was absolutely no other choice because HRC was so unbelievably bad, but DJT had the way better platform and ability to get the job done, regardless of “personality” problems Dems have with him.
I’ve had some thoughts regarding this pseudo concept of “alternative facts” for several years. In Mark Chapter 12, Jesus states the I must love God and love my neighbour. Put algebraically, if X = love of God and Y = love of my neighbour, then X = Y. It’s a simple equation.
Now, along comes Donald Trump, who states that my Moslem neighbour isn’t quite as worthy of being loved as my other neighbour, who’s a church going Christian. So, in effect, the equation becomes X = [Y-1]. And this can equally apply to anyone else whose life is on a theologically different guage of track from me.
So, whether you choose to believe that X = Y, or X = [Y-!] is entirely up to you. But one thing’s clear to me – these equations can’t both be right!
Nigel, perhaps your mathematical way of looking at the truth will impact Trump’s supporters. It is clear that the kind of reason and logic I have attempted doesn’t. They keep believing what they believe no matter what. If, from across the pond, you see our nation being in serious trouble, perhaps even a crisis, what you see is in fact what is happening. When the people around this man start talking about “alternative facts,” there can be no doubt that America is on the verge of repeating tragic history. Light a candle for us.
Nigel !! And others out there! FACT: (NOW LISTEN C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y !!) Christians (incl. DJT) and Republicans DO NOT HATE MUSLIMS. Repeat: Nobody hates Muslims !!!! Understand that First!! The people who are being “disliked” are EXTREME TERRORISTS (IN MOST CASES MUSLIMS). They want Shiria Law–the EXTREMIST ONES ONLY!!!! Do YOU want Shiria Law imposed here in the USA on ANYONE??? Do you even know an extremist Presbyterian who wants Shiria Law? Or a Lutheran? Or a Buddist? Or a Hindu?? THOSE EXTREMISTS SHIRIA LAW MUSLIM TERRORISTS are the ONLY ones we want ousted from USA. Check out the terrorists bombing and killing in Europe and in USA. Who ARE those people??? So many times I see that you ?? people do NOT pay attention to reality, and simply “interpret” the term “Muslim” to mean ALL Muslims. YOU ARE DEAD WRONG–SHIRA LAW DEAD WRONG!
I don’t know who you are, but I do know you are a very uninformed right wing radical who repeats fear speech without any support for your claims. There is no threat of Sharia law in this country or to this country. But there is a real threat of the Christian version of “Sharia law” in the form of Christians like you wanting to impose your personal beliefs on the nation. Opposition to gay marriage, for example, is a religious belief, not a civil right. Whatever you believe the Bible says about any moral issue is irrelevant to our democracy because America is not a Christian nation and biblical teachings have no authority regarding public life. Only the Constitution does. If you believe otherwise. you are the real threat to our way of life, not Muslims of any kind.
Beyond that, if you believe Donald Trump is a Christian, you obviously have no clue about what being Christian actually means. Only people like Donald Trump believe he is one when the truth is, anyone like Trump is NOT a Christian, regardless of what they say.
Finally, I obviously need to remind you that this is my blog and not a space for you to talk down at people you think don’t understand something you believe you do. The fact is, hatred is not a feeling. It is an action, and when you categorize people according to their race or their religion based on your irrational fears, you are expressing hatred.
You’ve had your say and it is time to move on. I am the one who gets the last one here. If you don’t like that, get your own blog.
This woman must clearly “be on a bender” OR “off her meds.” 🙂
Bill
Domestic terrorism is also very real, and most often perpetrated by groups claiming to represent Christianity (such as the KKK and white supremacist militia groups that are on the rise). They have a long-standing history of tyranny in the US and remain a threat to Americans today (not to mention the recent bombing in Canada that got less attention by Trump than Nordstrom.) Personally, I am more worried about them on a regular basis than the Muslim extremists (although I will not diminish the threat). Do you speak with the same passion about Trump’s inattentiveness to these other groups? Not yelling at you, I just want to understand why you are discounting these “Christian” organizations. A modulated tone bespeaks a cultivated mind.
P.S. There are various “levels” of Muslim “theology” from liberal to very conservative, with literal interpretations (SHIRIA LAW literal). Just as there are three different theology levels of Lutherans, or maybe they combined into two now. There are progressive Catholics and Traditionalist (they like Latin) Catholics. There is NO ONE BRAND ON MUSLIMS–THEY COME IN VARIOUS SHADES JUST LIKE OTHER FAITH GROUPS. Shiria Law Muslims want everybody else dead, out of the way.
Ditto my last comment about Emily!!
Bill
I am NOT a “right wing radical” by any means. First of all, that is Name-Calling! You have come to an erroneous assumption, based on Nothing! You have PRE-JUDGED ME, and that is called “Prejudice”. I do not care that gays and lesbians in their own home living their own lives any way they want. My terminology for that is “legal partnership” because there can be no continuation of the human species under this union. I call Marriage a union of man and woman that has the proclivity towards procreation (CAN but not MUST be a component–old age). A continuation of the Human Race. Legal partnerships do not create a generation of humanity. (Three islands: one gay, one lesbian, one both sexes, equal numbers and supplies to live. Leave them for 20 years, come back and see who’s still alive–and where creation is–not on gay or lesbian island, but there would be children and grandchildren on the heterosexual island.) But live any way you want! Couldn’t care less! So “categorizing people according to race or religion” ??? Where did you get THAT ??!!! You have a blog, which MUST mean that you believe in the freedom of expression . . . but is that ONLY if EVERYONE agrees with your point of view?? BTW, “irrational fears” that Shiria Law exists? Try going to Saudia Arabia, as a friend of mine lived for a year as a teacher! Live under those laws! Can’t happen?? No, not while there are only 5 percent Extreme Islam (believing in Shiria) here. Ask what happens when a country gets 20 percent Extreme Islam: they EXPECT Halal food –(no sanitary requirement, only that it was prayed over). Get 40 – 50 percent in a community, and then governance starts to move toward expecting Shiria –for their own group–in the country they are living in. With 70 percent or more, Extreme Islam would become in control of everyone else. There are already states in our United States who have SIGNED PROCLAMATIONS FORBIDDING SHIRIA LAW TO EVER BE ENACTED IN THAT STATE!! So some Governors are trying to put a stop to it even before it can become an issue, and to allay “fears” that it could. There are some cities already where cities are becoming more and more condensed with like-minded groups, so the possibility does exist.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3164999/ISIS-film-CHILD-carrying-beheading-time-Cub-Caliphate-seen-executing-prisoner-decapitation-terror-group-increasingly-use-boys-kill.html
Enough is enough. Write on this subject again and I will block any further posts from you.
Thanks for your post. I would propose to take it a step further, and call him a sociopath (of which narcissism is a symptom), and invite you to view my writing on this topic https://twoifbycharmwordpress.wordpress.com/ . One thing is for certain, if there is a discussion about whether a person exhibits the symptoms of narcissism vs. being a sociopath / psychopath, there is much to be concerned with if you are within that person’s sphere of influence. As of November, that is all of us. B. Ashley
Your last sentence says it all. I will check out your blog. Thanks.