In France, at the G-7, is Donald Trump beginning to realize he’s not number 1? He appeared to be off balance and stone faced in public, and spoke with little to no authority. He’s been out maneuvered by the president of France when he learned the foreign minister of Iran was invited to the G-7 summit by Macron. When he spoke in public, he resorted to his lies.

Brian Stelter of CNN raised the issue that nearly all in the media avoid. What is going on with Trump? Is he unfit to carry out the responsibilities of the office of the president? Why doesn’t he tell the truth? Why is his reality so different than most Americans? Why does he deny, in so many instances, his involvement in events that have happened and there is evidence to undermine his statements? Could it be that behind President Trump’s behavior he has some form of mental illness?

In the book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, 2nd Edition, Jeffrey D. Sachs writes in the forward to the new edition this:

Donald Trump is a profound danger to Americans and to the rest of the world. He will remain a profound danger until he is no longer president, since the dangers clearly result from Trump’s serious mental impairments that are untreated and are most likely impervious to treatment. The authors of this volume deserve our nation’s gratitude and, most important, our deep attention and political response.

Lee, Bandy X..The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump . St. Martin’s Press. Kindle Edition.

Tyrant?

As soon as Trump was in office he filed paperwork for the 2020 presidential race. And he planned a series of campaign like rallies to feed his supporters the narcissistic vitamins that they need as much as he does. Indeed, Trump and his followers feed on each other.

Trump has been called a narcissist by many authors in Dr. Lee’s book. But Trump is not simply a narcissist. He may be a tyrant. In discussing tyrants, past or present Elizabeth Mika, M.A., L.C.P.C., explains in Who Goes Trump: Tyranny as a Triumph of Narcissism that “each and every one of them promises to bring back law and order, create better economic conditions for the people, and restore the nation’s glory.”

In order for a tyrant to emerge in a society, three conditions are needed: the tyrant, his supporters (the people), and the society at large that provides a ripe ground for the collusion between them. Trump communicates with these supporters who are narcissistic, require a strict father-figure that Trump provides.

It’s for others to decide if Trump is a tyrant. But there is an agreement among most that Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini were tyrants. Perhaps if we remember what they were like, we can begin to look at the behavior of the current President of the United States in a different way.

Mika’s chapter in Lee’s book provides details about tyrants that perhaps need to be examined. Many in the American press, especially the main broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS have not pursued the truth about Trump, but instead only describe his behavior as if his actions are normal. They aren’t normal.

For instance, Mika suggests that in the 1930s, many German moderates “underestimated” Hitler and as a result didn’t take him seriously. Are we doing the same with Trump. Well, consider this quote from Mika’s chapter:

Hitler was seen by many as a bombastic but harmless buffoon, while many others, including members of clergy, intellectual elites, and the wealthy were nevertheless mesmerized by his grand visions of Germany’s future glory, and eagerly supported his agenda.

Lee, Bandy X.. The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump (pp. 301-302). St. Martin’s Press. Kindle Edition.

Mika also suggests that tyrants tend to identify with other tyrants. Why is it that Trump continues to pamper his relationships with Putin, and Kim Jong-il. When Trump talks about these two, he flatters them, while is derides former members of his own administration, members who were held in some esteem, such as Pentagon head, Jim Mattis. He believes Putin over his own intelligence agencies, and claims that the recent North Korean missile launches are ok, when in fact, these launches are provocations.

Hate-mongering has become an integral part of Trump’s persona. He has launched attacks on a wide range of people, but especially if their skin color, or native language is different than his. Hate-monrgering was also a fundamental part of Hitler’s war on Jews, and others that were different than him. This comparison is not to be dismissed as over reaching, at all.

Finally, in this post, I’d point out that those who attend the Trump rallies are integral to Trump’s behavior. His audience feeds him with chants and physical manifestations. At the same time, Trump cheers these people on by lying to them about the nature of our society. His rallies are full of rage and hate, and he constantly wrecks havoc on any of the press that dare attend these events. For the members of the press, they are taking well documented chances by attending these rallies.

Houston, we have a problem.