Malignant Narcissist

Trump on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: "There's a governor, I hear him complaining all the time. Pritzker...always complaining." "He has not performed well." He says the federal government is helping with an Illinois facility because Pritzker isn't doing what he is supposed to.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 5, 2020

"He has not performed well"? What is he, a trained seal?

If that doesn't lay bare Trump's true and only concern in this entire crisis — to be fluffed in public at all times. To be seen as the best and brightest, always. To be seen as a hero.

It's the only thing he cares about. There are going to be more than a few books written on Trump from a psychological angle that will make for highly interesting reading in the years to come.

You don't have to observe Donald Trump's public behaviour for very long to realize that he is one of a kind. No one has ever witnessed anything like him in any field (entertainment, sports, politics, etc.). Even the most psychotic, disturbed, delusional, and evil people known to some segment of the general public were (or are) able to mask it at times. Put up a convincing front. Donald Trump cannot put on a mask (and not just a mask for virus protection). Countless people who know him personally all say what you see is all there is. His mental illnesses run so deep, and they affect every aspect of his life. He is a DSM-5 made flesh, dwelling among us.

Trump's attempts to lie are transparent. He is unable to control his emotions, especially his frustration, anger, and disgust. In the last few weeks, when any of his statements or decisions are brought up and questioned by anyone, but especially a woman, and then especially a black woman, his truest, most ugly, feelings are on full display.

Trump hates the media because they will not write exactly what he wants them to write. They hold him accountable (to varying degrees), they wants answers to questions. They will not live in his version of reality. Trump gives orders and he expects those orders to be followed. By everyone. If not, then they are the enemy.

More than 70,000 mental health professionals, alarmed by the president's mental state, have signed a petition requesting Trump's cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, which lays out the procedure for removing a president who is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office".

In February 2017, journalist Shane Snow looked into the claim that Trump suffers from "malignant narcissism", which is, according to John D. Gartner, one of the top psychologists in the US, a combination of three mental illnesses — Anti-social Personality Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder — plus sadism, or the enjoyment of inflicting pain. Some signs of malignant narcissism: anti-social behaviours, hypersensitivity to criticism, delusions of grandeur, envy, paranoia, lack of empathy, failure to accept responsibility, proactive manipulation, a persistent need for attention, and egocentricity.

Gartner:

If I wanted to take out the DSM and say, "I want to create a Frankenstein monster — I want to create the most dangerous leader that could possibly be imagined — and I had a free hand to mix and match any set of diagnoses and symptoms, I couldn't improve on Donald Trump.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes official, objective standards in making a diagnosis. Snow goes through the three personality disorders (keep in mind this was done only one month into Trump's presidency):