Entering end-stage narcissistic collapse, Trump finally nears “bottom”…
The psychopathy of Donald J. Trump has been well-chronicled both here and elsewhere. He has employed his narcissism to enthrall millions of voters and force the allegiance of one of the two major political parties over the past 7 years. For him, it has been an affliction that has plagued him the better part of his lifetime. For the nation, his selfish behavior has been an infliction on our body politic since he descended into the political arena from his gilded faux palace on Fifth Avenue. Recent events have indicated that while the nation has suffered greatly under his spell, so has he- and a growing majority is fine with that. Narcissists crave attention, need attention, and believe that the regard they demand and receive can fill the gaping insecurities at the core of their disorder.
What they fear most is what Trump is now facing, the fear of being ordinary- of being treated the same as others. Trump fears Jack Smith because he represents the rule of law and what it implies. Since Merrick Garland decided to appoint Smith as Special Prosecutor, Trump’s public decline has been more precipitous than his escalator ride on June 16, 2015. What we are witnessing is the final stage of the personality disorder that demands, and then begs adulation. Trump is now in the throes of a narcissistic collapse:
A narcissistic collapse happens when a narcissist believes that someone (or something) is threatening their ability to maintain their superficial inflated ego… If their behavior is called out or challenged, their fragile self-esteem is damaged, resulting in intense reactions and abuse toward others. 1
Narcissistic collapse isn’t an official psychiatric term and hasn’t been extensively studied. However, some researchers and psychologists argue that collapse essentially disarms the false self associated with narcissism. 2Because narcissists are so insecure, they often feel empty and hollow-they need admiration from others to feel validated. 3
- Choosing Therapy, “What is Narcissistic Collapse,” by Nicole Arzt
The relentless pursuit of justice as a consequence of Trump’s behavior is the narcissist’s kryptonite. Jack Smith, Fani Willis, Letitia James, and Alvin Bragg have become the gathering storm of his imminent undoing. They, along with E. Jean Carroll have conspired to uncover his ordinariness, the rot beneath the thin veneer of respectability his privileged life has bestowed on him. Brett Baier’s interview last week was telling. An audience of 2.6 million, some perhaps for the first time, saw a Trump in full decline- beaten and overmatched by a crescendo of truth. The signs of his collapse have been obvious to those who wished to see it, but narcissistic collapse is a “thing” and signs of its oncoming are evident. In her article on Narcissistic collapse, Arzt lists the 11 signs of collapse:
While the former president’s behavior has long been an overt example of his mental state, there seems to be deepening chaos surrounding his reactions to the inevitable course of the rule of law. The indication that his favored daughter, Ivanka, has distanced herself from her father, and the knowledge that former close associates have abandoned his cause- some even testifying for the government- has led to an almost maniacal reaction to the inevitable reckoning that he faces before a jury of peers, ordinary citizens just like him sitting in judgment:
“CONGRESS, PLEASE INVESTIGATE THE POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS AGAINST ME CURRENTLY BEING BROUGHT BY THE CORRUPT DOJ AND FBI, WHO ARE TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL,” Trump wrote Thursday morning.
“THIS CONTINUING SAGA IS RETRIBUTION AGAINST ME FOR WINNING AND, EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY TO THEM, ELECTION INTERFERENCE REGARDING THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL. THIS MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION. LOOK AT THE POLLS — THEY CAN’T BEAT ME (MAGA!) AT THE BALLOT BOX, THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN WIN IS TO CHEAT. STOP THEM NOW!”
- Truth Social
AND,
“The Radical Left Investigations of me now, Federal, State, and City, are a SCAM and continuation, tightly coordinated with each jurisdiction and run by the now fully exposed as being corrupt and shameless, DOJ & FBI, The Boxes Hoax, where I come under the NON CRIMINAL Presidential Records Act and have done NOTHING WRONG, has exposed Biden, who is not protected by the PRA because he was not President. He has literally thousands of Boxes, numerous in Chinatown, & containing really bad ‘STUFF!’”
- Truth Social
Impulsive. Depression. Gaslighting. Mental Breakdown. Anger and Rage. Smearing Reputations, Stonewalling…
As Trump finally seeks his “bottom,” as he unravels in interviews spinning illogical excuses and projecting his own criminal liabilities to the dismay of his own lawyers, an end is nearing.
In his book Malignant Self Love, Dr. Sam Vaknin describes the underlying breach with reality the toxic narcissist believes will protect him. It is an immunity he grants himself and enjoys because of his own believed uniqueness:
Narcissistic immunity is the narcissist’s (erroneous) feeling that he is immune to the consequences of his actions. That he will never be effected by the outcomes of his own decisions, opinions, beliefs, deeds and misdeeds, acts, inaction, or by being a member of certain groups. That he is above reproach and punishment (though not above being feared and notorious). That, magically, he is protected and will miraculously be saved at the last moment…
The narcissist is entitled to “special treatment”: high living standards, constant and immediate catering to his ever shifting needs, the avoidance of the mundane and the routine, an absolution of his sins, fast track privileges (to higher education, or in his encounters with the bureaucracy). Punishment is for ordinary people (where no great loss to humanity is involved). Narcissists feel that they are above the law.
— Malignant Self-Love. by Dr. Sam Vaknin
The coming collapse is predicated on the forces outside his control. While the indictments and his erratic response to them play a part, the most intimidating and dangerous assaults on his psyche lie in the loss of validation and attention that has followed Trump’s overt public unraveling. Like fire deprived of oxygen, the narcissist requires an endless supply of adulation and attention in order to sustain his enormous needs. The deep and unrelenting insecurities demand more, always more.
Trump like most narcissists allows himself a special license to an entitlement reserved for deeply disturbed and hopelessly egotistical. They all share a need that cannot be filled from within. As Emerson once wrote,
“Every day, every act betrays the ill-concealed deity. We believe in ourselves as we do not believe in others. We permit all things to ourselves, and that which we call sin in others is experiment for us. It is an instance of our faith in ourselves that men never speak of crime as lightly as they think; or every man thinks a latitude safe for himself which is nowise to be indulged to another.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays
Emerson noticed what narcissists often overlook, our shared, and remarkable in itself, commonness.
Originally published at https://vincerizzo.substack.com.
