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Over the last several weeks I’ve heard from people trying to put context around Donald Trump, believing he would somehow act differently as president. Some voted for him, and others did not. Trump supporters actually believed he would indict and lock up Hillary Clinton, in spite of seven mostly Republican-led Benghazi investigations and the inference by House Majority Leader, Republican Kevin McCarthy, that Benghazi was only a political move against the Democrats.
Donald Trump is unhinged. In fact, three Harvard professors requested that Trump have a “full medical and neuropsychiatric evaluation by an impartial team of investigators” before he takes office. Psychologist Dan McAdams, director of the Foley center for the Study of Lives, and professor at Northwestern University, said, “For psychologists, it is almost impossible to talk about Donald Trump without using the word narcissism.” He exhibits so many personality traits of someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, he is the quintessential textbook case.
Tony Schwarz, the ghostwriter for Trump’s Art of the Deal best seller, said months before the election, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” Schwarz spent 18 months and hundreds of hours with Trump, crafting Trump’s image as a suave businessman. In reality Schwarz said, “I put lipstick on a pig.” If he wrote the book today, Schwartz said it would be a very different book and he would title it, “The Sociopath.”
Stephanie Cegielski, Trump’s Super PAC communications director, quit Trump’s campaign months before the November election, noting that what began as a protest candidacy to the establishment turned into an ego-driven desire to win. Cegielski said, “Trump is about Trump. Not one of his many wives. Not one of his many ‘pieces of ass.’ He is, at heart, a self-preservationist” and “The man does not know policy, nor does he have the humility to admit what he does not know — the most frightening position of all.”
What Trump does well is denigrate those who dare to stand against, or challenge him. He tweeted of Tony Schwarz – in his infamously limited and juvenile vocabulary – “Dummy writer @tonyschwartz, who wanted to do a second book with me for years (I said no), is now a hostile basket case who feels jilted!”
Donald Trump cannot change who he is. His tweets and speeches, even as a president of the United States will continue to be disrespectful, obnoxious, and self-serving.
Schwarz, however, said it was Trump who wanted to do the second book and Schwarz who declined. Schwarz’s statement falls perfectly in line with Cegielski’s description of Trump when she said, “He refused to take responsibility for his actions while frequently demanding apologies from others.” She said, “[Trump] would go to the grave denying he had ever done anything wrong to you — ever.”
Donald Trump cannot change who he is. His tweets and speeches, even as a president of the United States will continue to be disrespectful, obnoxious, and self-serving. To expect anything more is to be naïve, or willfully ignorant. Donald Trump serves only Donald Trump and Donald Trump’s best interest. He told Politico he ran for president for his business and he “wanted to do this for myself.”
Trump said whatever people wanted to hear in order to win. He recanted on locking up Hillary Clinton, decided to keep the “strongest assets” of Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), back peddled on having Mexico pay for the wall (which would cost the U.S. $15 – $25 billion, and is unlikely to be built at all), removed the immigration reform from his website, which spoke of banning Muslims, and said gay marriage was already settled, after promising to elect judges to the Supreme Court to repeal it.
His promise to “drain the swamp,” had nothing to do with concern about the corruption in Washington, but rather it was used as propaganda to gain frustrated and angry voters. To the contrary, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “It doesn’t look like they’re draining the swamp, it looks like they’re pouring the swamp into the transition [team]. If nothing changes, they’ll be pouring the swamp into the Oval Office as well.”
One of the problems with someone who suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder is that they are easily manipulated. Vladamir Putin figured this out, as did the religious right, and Republican politicians who jumped on the Trump train as soon as they realized he was going to get the nomination. While Trump may back peddle on his campaign promises, “the swamp” is poised and ready to reverse and remove civil rights, while giving corporate interests their run at Washington D.C., possibly in ways we’ve never seen before.
Beside Trump’s own massive corporate conflicts of interest, about which he has only given lip service to resolving, his cabinet picks have conflicts of interest of their own. The latest, Tom Price, who was chosen as the Health and Human Services Secretary, has traded around $300,000 in health care stocks for the last four years, all while contributing to legislation impacting his bottom line.
Trump’s cabinet picks, besides being the most unqualified and richest in U.S. history, have one thing in common: They ultimately supported Donald Trump. Ben Carson, after dropping out of the race said of Trump, “He is a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America.” Linda McMahon, appointed as the Administrator of Small Business Administration, and two-time failed attempt at a seat as a Connecticut senator, was Trump’s top campaign donor.
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump’s irascible personality will become the face of America to all the world. It is embarrassing, but it is reality. Our biggest concerns should not be his Twitter tirades, or petulant attacks, but the people manipulating him behind the scenes; people taking our country in a direction a majority of us didn’t vote for, and don’t want to go. Those are the people to watch. Those are the people we need to hold accountable.
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This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post
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