I believe that former President Donald J. Trump exhibits significant personal insecurity, which may explain his frequent emphasis on power and dominance.
For example, this past week, he called for the deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, despite no clear evidence that they were wanted or needed. Moreover, these forces were not adequately prepared for this mission.
In the Oval Office, he commented on an upcoming military parade, stating: “If there’s any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force…. For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.” Such remarks are troubling because they suggest a willingness to suppress constitutionally protected protest rights under the First Amendment.
Trump loves to talk about his “Big Beautiful Bill”, but much of what he says is not even close to the truth.
Trump constantly berates others with social media in CAPITAL LETTERS, known as “screaming” because it is so unprofessional. This approach is uncommon among serious political or business leaders.
Why does Trump seem so preoccupied with the idea of being “big” or powerful? I am a pathologist, not a psychologist. However, based on his public conduct, he may be compensating for deep-seated feelings of inadequacy by projecting power and importance and using exaggerated language. Subconsciously, he believes he is actually “small”.
Trump is intellectually weak.
He repeatedly claims he knows more than the experts in many disciplines, yet this is laughable. He rarely reads, does not ever appear to think about anything in depth, knows little about the Constitution and democracy and does not consult.
It is hard for his staff to get information to him - he prefers Fox News broadcasts. In addition, he has hidden his grades from public view, which probably means they were not very good.
He often announces policies with minimal consultation with his staff.
He changes his mind so often on many subjects that the TACO meme was developed regarding tariffs - Trump Always Chickens Out (i.e. changes his mind).
His former staff and others in Washington D.C. who knew him best have called him a fool or worse.
Trump is inadequate in business.
He likes to project grandeur, such as gold throughout the Oval Office and his properties and his requested gold luxury jet from Qatar, but this is likely a method to deflect his feelings of inferiority.
Trump frequently loses money on his businesses because he manages them so badly. “Everything Trump touches turns into garbage” is a regular refrain about him.
Trump has been called “the worst businessman in America.”
Trump appears to believe he is inadequate with women.
Trump, despite having the best attorneys that money can buy, was found guilty of sexual abuse in a civil case. In addition, he:
has numerous other sexual misconduct allegations against him
regularly demonizes and threatens women and girls
uses vile language to describe his dominance of women
appoints and pardons many men who have been credibly accused of harassing or assaulting women.
Perhaps most on point is Trump’s amazing public discussion about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia, which, to my mind, confirms his own sexual insecurities.
Trump ended 50 years of women's abortion rights, yet claims he will be the “protector of women”.
Why is Trump so hostile towards so many women? I believe he is angry about his inability to deal with women and upset that they don’t recognize and desire his obvious (to him) manliness. He cannot admit he has a problem (physical or mental), so he acts out against women, who "must be" the problem.
Every time Trump uses the word BIG, I think about Trump’s own perceived sexual and other inadequacies - that is what the conversation is really about, in my opinion.
I suspect that many of Trump’s followers also feel inadequate about their own brain power, business skills and relationships (sexual or otherwise), and identify with Trump’s projections of dominance. They, too would like to criticize everyone who appears to be superior to them or who is “keeping them down”. They feel that they, like Trump, are the victims, and so will bond to Trump forever.
The index to my prior essays (mostly post 5 November 2024) is here.
I have another blog on Cancer and Medicine.
You can also follow me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nat-pernick-8967765/ (LinkedIn), npernickmich (Threads and Instagram), natpernick.bsky.social (Bluesky) or @nat385440b (Tribel).
Email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com.
I also publish Notes at https://substack.com/note. Subscribers will automatically see my notes.
Inadequate, insecure, incompetent ....
Cruel and bullying father.
No internal sense of self or others. FAILURE!!!
A simple answer is that Trump is a vile, incompetent, incoherent, demented, overweight, evil-smelling, life-long cheat, grifter, scam-artist, social and sexual predator and ignoramus who suspects that he is precisely, as he has been called by Rex Tillerson, his former Secretary of State , a moron.