The Cult of Trump

by Steven Hassan

  EYES ON THE PRIZE

  It turns out, Trump was considering the presidency as early as 1980. In an interview that year, TV personality Rona Barrett asked Trump: “Would you like to be the president of the United States?”

  “I really don’t believe I would, Rona,” Trump answered. “Because I think it’s a very mean life. I would love, and I would dedicate my life to this country, but I see it as being a mean life, and I also see [that] somebody with strong views, and somebody with the kind of views that are maybe a little bit unpopular—which may be right, but may be unpopular—wouldn’t necessarily have a chance of getting elected against somebody with no great brain but a big smile.”

  Barrett would later comment that Trump had a “confidence beyond reality.” To many in the viewing audience, it might have seemed outlandish that a real estate tycoon would even contemplate running for president. Years later, Trump’s ascent to the presidency would defy conventional wisdom and norms. And yet, in retrospect, a television show may have been the perfect place to plant the seed for Trump’s candidacy.

  CHAPTER THREE The Cult Leader Profile

  In April 2017, a group of distinguished psychiatrists and mental health professionals convened at Yale School of Medicine to discuss an extraordinarily delicate conundrum: the mental health of the president of the United States. Alarmed by the way Donald Trump conducted his campaign and also by his communications and actions as president, and feeling a strong duty to warn the public, they decided to publish their views in a book, edited by Yale forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee, called The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. Although they stopped short of making a formal diagnosis, the authors found abundant evidence that Trump exhibited a disturbing and dangerous psychological pattern: narcissistic tendencies, impulsivity, delusions, paranoia, xenophobia, misogyny, inability to take ownership of errors, pathological lying, and extreme hedonism.

  “Aren’t all presidents narcissists?” some may ask. The office selects for, and may even require, a certain amount of narcissistic behavior.1 That may be truer of recent presidents.2 To deal with the constant pressure and scrutiny of the office, as well as handle the weight of responsibility for the health and safety of millions of Americans, presidents need a strong, if not inflated, sense of self. They must be driven by the belief that they are the best person to run the country. It takes enormous confidence, boldness, and bravado—as well as focus and persistence—to realize that dream. Small wonder that the job selects for a kind of flamboyance and assertive and interpersonal style—what might be called “grandiose narcissism.” A recent study ranked past presidents according to their degree of grandiose narcissism. Lyndon Johnson came out on top, followed by Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton.3

  Narcissism is not a disorder by itself—everyone may have a streak of it. We all want “to stand out from the rest of the seven billion people on the planet,” writes Craig Malkin, clinical psychologist and lecturer in psychology at Harvard Medical School. Healthy narcissism—the desire to feel appreciated and special—can even be beneficial. It can make people feel less anxious and depressed and more effective in the world. It becomes pathological, Malkin writes, when a person becomes so addicted to feeling special that they’d do anything to get their high, including lie, cheat, steal, betray, or even hurt those closest to them.

  There is an even more dangerous kind of narcissism, one defined by a darker and more destructive pattern. It is fittingly called “malignant narcissism” and arises when narcissism combines with other psychopathological traits. According to Malkin, political leaders such as Hitler, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un exhibit malignant narcissism. As Robert Jay Lifton notes in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, such narcissism in a leader can lead to a “malignant normality”—a term Lifton coined while studying Nazi doctors, who carried out terrible experiments but were able to justify and normalize them through a kind of “adaptation to evil.” Lifton’s point is that people can come to accept aberrant and even pathological behavior as the new norm, especially when it is exhibited by an authority figure. He applies this to Trump. “Because he is president and operates within the broad contours and interactions of the presidency, there is a tendency to view what he does as simply part of our democratic process.”

  This process of rationalizing and adapting to a “new normal” happens all the time in destructive cults, and it does so, as I have said, through a systematic indoctrination process. But it all starts with the leader. Like Putin and Kim, cult leaders such as Sun Myung Moon, L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology), Jim Jones (Peoples Temple), David Koresh (Branch Davidians), Warren Jeffs (Fundamentalist Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS), Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Rajneesh Movement), and Keith Raniere (NXIVM) display many traits associated with malignant narcissism. They all fit a similar pattern: grandiose, arrogant, bombastic, supremely confident, demanding of attention and admiration, rarely admitting a mistake. They were known to lie, cheat, and steal without apparent conscience and even empathy. The question is, to what extent does Trump exhibit the malignant narcissistic profile of a destructive cult leader?

  MALIGNANT NARCISSISM

  It was the social psychologist Erich Fromm who, in 1964, first coined the term malignant narcissism. He did so to describe what he thought was the most severe mental sickness, one that represented the “quintessence of evil,” mostly because of the lack of empathy and morality on the part of the patient. Though the diagnostic bible of the American Psychiatric Association—the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)—does not recognize malignant narcissism as a distinct type of narcissism,4 researchers suggest that it combines narcissistic personality disorder with three additional psychopathologies: antisocial behavior, self-affirming sadism, and paranoia.5

  NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER

  People with narcissistic personality disorder display a characteristic pattern of traits: 1) grandiose self-centered behavior; 2) fantasies of power, success, and attractiveness; 3) a need for praise and admiration; 4) a sense of entitlement; and 5) a lack of empathy, which can lead them to exploit, bully, shame, and demean others, without guilt or remorse.6 Yet, as Philip Zimbardo and Rosemary Sword write in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, “What lies underneath this personality type is often very low self-esteem.”7 Below the surface, they are plagued by feelings of inferiority, emptiness, and boredom, which in turn help to fuel the first pattern of traits. Cult leaders seem to be especially prone to this vicious cycle.

  GRANDIOSITY: EXAGGERATION OF TALENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

  Sun Myung Moon claimed that he was the greatest man who ever lived—greater than Moses, Buddha, and Muhammad and “ten times greater than Jesus.” “Out of all the saints sent by God, I think I am the most successful one already,” he said at one of his meetings.8 He also claimed to possess superior military prowess. “I am a master tactician or strategist. When I plan, I execute the plan. And when I execute a certain battle plan, I will always come with a better result than any other tactician in history. The Korean government learned many tactics from me. And America is going to be learning much from my strategies.”9

  Jim Jones made only slightly less grandiose claims. “At various times, he claimed that he was either Lenin, Jesus Christ, or one of a variety of other religious or political figures,” said Deborah Layton Blakey, a close aide of Jones, who fled Jonestown before the mass murder in 1978. She remembers him talking incessantly. “He claimed that he had divine powers and could heal the sick. He stated that he had extraordinary perception and could tell what everyone was thinking. He said that he had powerful connections the world over, including the Mafia, Idi Amin, and the Soviet government.”10

  Trump has also claimed a powerful and special relationship with the Soviet Union, in particular leader Vladimir Putin, not to mention other authoritarian leaders such as Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kim Jong-un. As president, he actually does have those relationships b
ut, according to his claims, that was true before he ever met these leaders. Even then, he intimated that his relationships were much more powerful and special than those held by previous occupants of the office. In his dealings with Kim, in particular, he depended on his personal charisma and self-proclaimed prowess as a dealmaker to negotiate a nuclear disarmament, with disappointing results.

  Domestically, he exaggerated and embellished his expertise and abilities from the start of his campaign, in interviews, tweets, and rallies. “Nobody will be tougher on ISIS than me. Nobody,” he said during his campaign announcement speech on June 16, 2015. “There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am,” he stated a few days later. The following month came this memorably hypnotic line, one that echoes Moon’s language: “I know more about offense and defense than [the generals] will ever understand, believe me. Believe me. Than they will ever understand. Than they will ever understand.” It’s a classic example of Trump’s tried-and-true habit of lulling his audience through repetition. A few months later came another infamous claim: “I know more about ISIS [the Islamic State militant group] than the generals do. Believe me.”

  It turns out Donald Trump has claimed to know more than anyone else about many things—renewables, social media, debt, banking, Wall Street bankers, money, the U.S. government, campaign contributions, politicians, Senator Cory Booker, trade, jobs, infrastructure, defense, the “horror of nuclear” [sic], and the visa system.11 The expression is typically, “Nobody knows more about [fill-in the blank] than I do,” with a few notable embellishments:

  “I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them.”—tweet from October 2, 2016

  “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”—presidential campaign announcement speech, June 16, 2015

  “Nobody has ever done so much in the first two years of a presidency as this administration. Nobody. Nobody.”—

  political rally in Biloxi, Mississippi, November 26, 2018

  FANTASIES OF SUCCESS, POWER, AND ATTRACTIVENESS

  Narcissists spin self-glorifying fantasies—about their power, wealth, intelligence, looks—to help make them feel in control and special, and also to cope with stress. “Since reality doesn’t support their grandiose view of themselves, narcissists live in a fantasy world propped up by distortion, self-deception, and magical thinking,” psychologist and health writer Melinda Smith explains. “These fantasies protect them from feelings of inner emptiness and shame, so facts and opinions that contradict them are ignored or rationalized.”12 Narcissists have difficulty handling even the most constructive criticism and may feel shame and humiliation when criticized or rejected.

  Keith Raniere, the founder of NXIVM, claimed to be one of the smartest people in the world. “We were told that Keith is a genius with an IQ of 240, who was speaking in full sentences at the age of one, that he was a concert pianist, he was the east coast judo champion at 11, he earned degrees in mathematics, biology, and physics,” said Sarah Edmondson, a former NXIVM member who has now come out against the group.13

  L. Ron Hubbard claimed to be a nuclear physicist, though he flunked a course in atomic and molecular physics before being suspended for deficiencies in scholarship. He also talked about having made “the greatest discovery in 50,000 years.”14 It is in some ways fitting that the science he is best known for is science fiction—and of course, Scientology.

  Donald Trump has often bragged about his intelligence, power, sexual prowess, looks, and most of all, his wealth. He was proud of his looks in his youth and even now appears to take pride in what he sees in the mirror. “Other than the blond hair, when I was growing up, they said I looked like Elvis,” he told a 2018 rally in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley’s birthplace. The audience cheered. In April 2016, then sixty-nine-year-old Trump told a crowd in Pennsylvania, “Do I look like a president? How handsome am I, right? How handsome?”

  Trump also likes to boast about his personal power—a power so great that he could famously “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and still win votes. He has also boasted about his sexual conquests, most infamously on the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, in which he claimed that because of his celebrity, he could grab women by their genitals.

  Wealth is what Trump likes to brag about most. And it is his wealth that is the most debatable, especially since, contrary to presidential norms, he has not released his tax returns. In 2015, as he entered the presidential race, Trump claimed he was worth $8.7 billion, more than double Forbes magazine’s tally at the time of $4.1 billion. Trump often took offense if anyone questioned this number, as he did with Timothy O’Brien, author of Trump Nation: The Art of Being the Donald, who estimated Trump’s wealth between $150 million and $250 million. (He sued O’Brien for defamation in 2006, but a judge dismissed the case.)15

  In June 2015 he told The Des Moines Register, “I’m the most successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far. Nobody’s ever been more successful than me. I’m the most successful person ever to run. Ross Perot isn’t successful like me. Romney—I have a Gucci store that’s worth more than Romney.”16 Whether or not any of this is true, Trump’s calculation appears to have paid off. Many people claimed to have voted for him for his business savvy, a reputation conjured and cultivated during his fourteen seasons on The Apprentice.

  EXCESSIVE ADMIRATION

  Due to a lack of affection during childhood, narcissists crave not just approval but admiration to help bolster a fragile ego.17 They will manipulate people in order to get that attention.18 For some cult leaders the need goes beyond admiration to pure devotion.

  Moon demanded that we bow and kneel in our small meetings with him. At meetings, he would sometimes bring a member onstage and kick or hit them with a stick and then ask: “If I did this to you, would you still follow me?” The audience would roar their approval.

  L. Ron Hubbard used to rehearse what he called his “Affirmations,” which included, “All men shall be my slaves! All women shall succumb to my charms! All mankind shall grovel at my feet and know why!”19

  Lyndon LaRouche’s need for devotion was so great that members of his cult were encouraged—“forced, if not physically, then psychologically”—to abort their babies so that there would be no “higher loyalty… than their loyalty to LaRouche.20 “Making men in my own image was the conscious articulation of my central purpose from approximately 1946,” he wrote in his 1979 autobiography.21

  Trump may not go quite that far but his need for admiration was plain to see during his 2016 campaign rallies, where he seemed to implore his audience to cheer not just for his policies but for him. That need was also clear from the moment he stepped into the White House. Immediately after his inauguration, his press secretary Sean Spicer announced that the event attracted “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration—period—both in person and around the globe.” These were still early days, and many were perplexed that he could make such a blatantly false statement—there was photographic proof that it wasn’t true. It is striking that the size of the audience would remain an issue for Trump long after his inauguration. He would continue to bring it up months later, displaying his narcissistic need for attention and glory.

  Like Spicer, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was willing to lie—and also cheat and steal—for his boss. “One man who wants to do so much good with so many detractors against him needs support,” Cohen reportedly said about Trump, before he turned against him. “I’m the guy who protects the president and the family. I’m the guy who would take a bullet for the president.”22

  Cognitive neuroscientist Ian Robertson states that the need for admiration “makes the narcissist’s ego a little like an electric car with a limited range before its batteries need recharging, mak
ing it dependent on the availability of charging stations.”23 For Trump, campaign rallies were those charging stations while on the road to the White House—so much so that Trump continued to hold rallies even after he became president.

  Then there is the president’s love affair with Fox News. The conservative network is part of the machine that praises everything that the president does and demonizes his perceived enemies—from former FBI director James Comey and other FBI agents, to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, former staff members, and women who have come forward to accuse Trump of sexual harassment.

  But most of all Trump seems to have it out for former president Barack Obama. There are some who believe that he decided to run for president after being roasted by Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2011, though he denies it.24 Others have suggested that Trump is jealous of Obama’s looks, intelligence, and class, and even of the size of his inauguration audience. “Trump hates Obama because he can’t measure up to him. Obama is younger, thinner, better-looking and smarter,” writes Carolyn Banks in the Austin American Statesman. “Come on, wouldn’t you then want all things Obama gone?”25 Beyond his own personal issues, Trump—like many Republicans and the right-wing media—blames many governmental problems on Obama, and has spent much of his time in office trying to dismantle the former president’s many accomplishments.

  SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

  Narcissists believe that they are so exceptional that they are entitled to get whatever they want—wealth, sex, devotion, special treatment.

  David Koresh, of the Branch Davidians, believed his power was so great that only he had the authority to “give the seed.” In fact, he made that happen. Married couples were expected to remain celibate while he had sex with many female members, the youngest of whom was ten. Women claimed to be in the “House of David” when they were pregnant. Warren Jeffs, jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), had seventy-four wives and fifty-three children.