As someone who constantly lies, deceives and contradicts himself, it's very hard to know who Donald Trump really is (other than a man who lies, deceives and contradicts himself of course). But over the past year, one label has come to my mind repeatedly and consistently to describe him. Trump is a narcissist. And as we have to accept the fact that he is the new American president, I can only hope that he isn't as disastrous a leader as his campaign promises would suggest. And it is to his narcissism that I pin my hopes.
Psychologically speaking, narcissists, for all their self-importance, usually have at their core a very fragile ego that is easily wounded and a gaping void in self esteem which they attempt to fill through overcompensated efforts at (often aggressive) self aggrandizement.
They're also often characterised by a lack of empathy and extreme selfishness. I believe this about Trump. I don't believe for one second that he cares about America or for the people who voted for him. I'm happy to be proved wrong but so far I don't even have evidence to suggest that he cares, really cares as a partner or parent should, about his wife and children. He only cares about himself.
The things he cares about are to have power and be liked (possibly in that order of importance), and he's shown that he's willing to go to any length to get these. When the goals contradict one another, as his election campaign has shown, he was willing to behave in ways that engendered active dislike as long as it meant gaining power.
Trump is many things- sexist, racist, brash, delusional- but stupid isn't one of them. In an article, Richard Pinter talks about how he must have had a modicum of intelligence to have the kind of success he has had in his career. I would agree, even if that intelligence is exploitative in nature and lacking a discernible moral/ethical dimension. For a narcissist, the desire to be liked often depends on a devious acumen to be able to gauge what a particular crowd wants, and to give it to them. To get elected, he said things that he thought would appeal to those who were likely to vote for him. He knew what monsters lay dormant and lurking in the hearts of many and how to poke them awake. He rightly surmised the sad truth that people would be willing to sacrifice certain core values of human decency on the altar of empty promises of economic development, nationalism and security.
But now that he's in power, he needs to be liked by a wider audience - within and outside America.
As shocking as his win was to many, his victory speech came as even bigger shock to me. In it I saw evidence of his willingness to say what he thinks he should (rather than how he really feels). I was completely surprised by it. If Trump won the election being misogynistic, racist, crude, petty and vengeful, why not stick to the winning formula in the victory speech? But it was probably the most inoffensive series of words to come out of his mouth since his campaign began. It was even what one might reasonably expect a president-elect to say (barring Trump's limited vocabulary that causes him not to stray beyond simple words like 'huge', 'great' and 'best').
This suggests that despite his behaviour over the past year, he knows how to conduct himself according to the audience he's trying to capture. The verbal diarrhoea that we saw in the campaign may have been an act designed to attain the broader outcome of projecting enormous power- something he believed and perhaps rightly guessed a desperate people wanted in their new "leader". Lest people accuse me of being a Trump-apologist, I hasten to add that the calmer Trump delivering the victory speech was also putting on a calculated act.
He's made no substantial comments about policy or strategy throughout his campaign, other than off-the-cuff ridiculous and offensive ideas about building walls and keeping millions of Muslims out of the USA. He pretends that this is a negotiating tactic to keep his adversaries (which in his mind includes the American people) in the dark. I suspect the truth is he knows on a subconscious or even a conscious but private level that he doesn't know the first thing about politics and government.
I'm hoping that this narcissism and desire to be liked may be the silver lining that gently whispers in his ear that now that he's the president, he should listen to those who know what they're talking about. He wasn't afraid of making a fool of himself to get elected. He used it amazingly to his advantage because he somehow grasped, by the throat, what thousands of disenchanted voters so desperately wanted to hear. Here's hoping he'll be more afraid to make a fool of himself for a wider, more critical audience - the rest of the world.
He calls himself a good negotiator. But when he was campaigning there was no need to negotiate really. There was no dialogue. He spoke, all of us listened and unfortunately, just enough Americans fell for it.
He may be a good negotiator, but an essential part of being a negotiator involves knowing what the bottom line of the other party is. I'm keen to see what Trump will do when faced with a firm bottom line drawn by others with the courage, conviction and confidence to stand up to him. When he really does have to negotiate a give and take.
For example, consider his denial of climate change and promise to withdraw from the Paris accord. He can say what he wants to but when he's attending meetings with leaders from other countries who are listening, judging and communicating that to believe that climate change isn't real is idiotic to say the least, I don't think Trump has the stomach to risk losing a place at the table for the sake of his principles- whatever they may be. A powerful place at the table is more important to him. Given how fickle he is, I can picture him reversing his position on climate change because doing so would be in his interest.
Angela Merkel recently responded to Trump's victory and offered her cooperation whilst subtly reminding him of the conditions under which Germany would cooperate with USA. It is vital that international cooperation is conditional. More world leaders need to follow the example set by Merkel. We need world leaders to favour doing what is right over mere political correctness. The free press should hold his administration to account more harshly than they did his campaign. So should his fellow republicans.
In a twisted way, I want to believe that his win has restored power to the people by bringing him into the largest spotlight there is on the world stage.
Until now he could get away with his monologue. He had complete control. This is the bully's and narcissist's comfort zone. Now that he holds political office, a monologue won't suffice. He won't be able to have his say and walk off stage. He will have to engage in dialogue - with his advisers and his colleagues in Government, nationally and internationally.
If this is just my delusional fantasy, so be it. I'll take whatever hope I can muster.
I'd like to believe that we the audience he now needs to impress. He's managed to wrestle, whine, bully, insult and lie his way into convincing others to give him the lead role. Now that he's there, he actually has to perform. Let's show him we are watching very closely.
