Author of His Own Misfortune

[NanceGreggs]

It always puts a smile on my face thinking about how many hours a day Trump spends reflecting on what his life would be like right now if he'd never been elected.

Were it not for his desire for political power, he'd be spending his days on the golf course, the most pressing thing on his mind being what flavour ice cream he would have for dessert. He'd probably still be 'living under the radar' of the IRS, still generating revenue by cheating contractors out of their fees, still being lauded as a self-made billionaire and savvy businessman - instead of being publicly exposed as the conman he's always been.

Had Trump never been 'pResident', his lawyers would be presenting him with contracts for potential TV shows and product endorsement deals, instead of coming up with implausible ways to try to keep him out of prison.

Donald once had it 'made in the shade', getting away with criminal behaviour in NY state by throwing his fame and his money around - but due to his own ego and arrogance, he's finally facing charges that all the money and fame in the world can't make go away.

Please don't chime-in with replies about how he doesn't think about where he'd be right now if his 'pResidency' never happened - because you know damned well he does. He thinks about it all the time, those halcyon days that once were and could still be, if only those little fingers hadn't reached beyond what they could grasp.

[Deuxcents]

1. His ego got in the way when he was "roasted" by Obama

At the WH press dinner..imo.

[Cha]

2. Yeah, so..

Thanks Obama!

And if we've learned anything about the Fake Jesus trump it's that his EGO has Driven him right into the self made Shitholel he's in now. He's only subservient to Putin his puppeteer.

lol.. even Putin couldn't get him a 2nd term.

[rubbersole]

3. Yep.👆👆👆

[NanceGreggs]

4. So true.

A racist bigot from Queens couldn't stand the fact that a black man had bested him in terms of intelligence, charisma, competence, and political savvy.

So which one of them is facing prison time right now?

SPOILER ALERT: It's not the 'black guy'.

[3Hotdogs]

5. There are points of view that his '16 candidacy was in response to Obama's roast. But also,

he was angling for a contract renewal for his tv show. The publicity for his political run would increaser his value to advertisers. More evidence for this, comes from the shit show that was his preparation for taking office between the election and inauguration. Aides did not attend briefings. He did not attend briefings.

All the best people who were gonna be there to run things, quit or were fired.

The last thing he wanted was to really be president. It would take away from running his real estate grift.

BUT

Then, he realized the value of the grift that could come with being president.

[NanceGreggs]

6. ...

...

[3Hotdogs]

7. WOW --- a thumbs up from NanceGreggs. That's somthin' to be proud of.

The only other one I was really proud of, was one from Omaha Steve.

[LuckyLib]

18. This is my take as well. He never fully expected to win the WH,

but saw it as new inroads into higher level grifting when he did. And, how hard could it be? Besides the real work was done by others. Just pomp, ceremonies, and meetings. Being the performer he is, the thrill of holding a room and pontificating on the world stage were extra perks.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

35. You're falling for his ultimate con

By thinking that he didn't "really" want to be POTUS, when he'd wanted it--and badly--for a very long time. He'd made several forays into running, all the way back to 1988. The sign at 1:03 in this 1999 video didn't make itself, you know:

You don't spend 28 years trying to run for POTUS if you don't want the office and all that comes with it, with every fiber of your being.

So do not be fooled that he only cared about a ridiculous telly show that gave him only marginal attention, power and access to money. Malignant narcissists always want all of those things that they can get, and nobody gets more of them than POTUS.

He wanted everything that came with being POTUS so badly that he would have done anything to have it, no matter how illegal or traitorous.

The reason he didn't attend any briefings or show any concern about a transition wasn't because he had other priorities, but because he did not think he needed them. He thinks he's smarter than everyone else--at everything. Why would he need a transition? He was sure that nobody could teach him anything he needed to know to be POTUS, because he was certain going in that that he already knew all he needed to know to do the job. I mean, if that stupid n----r could do it, of course he could, and far better!

That's really how a malignant narcissist thinks. They have goals, but not the way the rest of us do, and they certainly don't go about getting there in a normal way, because they're too stupid and self-involved to figure out how to make them happen. They aren't strategic --or-- tactical thinkers. They aren't "planners." Each and every bloody one of them is nothing but a two-bit opportunist. They are the ultimate here and now people who get what they want here and now, and zero concerns about down the road.

Consider how his campaign was so poorly held together and run in 2016. It was a total mess, and he barely got over the finish line despite getting some seriously talented assistance (like it or not Paul Manafort and KellyAnne Conway were highly-experienced campaigners). In fact, it was only a technicality of the bloody stupid American system of choosing POTUS that got him into office.

As if to put an exclamation point on how he's no planner, consider how his time in office was as chaotic and D-U-M-B dumb as his campaign. There was no plan--there was never any plan--there never will be any plan for him. It's all about making him look good and get whatever he wants when he wants it, hurting anyone or anything that tries to thwart him, and the hell with everything else.

So no, he wasn't thinking of getting his TV show or whatever. He doesn't think that way. He cannot and will not think like a normal person, or even your average two-bit huckster. Not ever.

[Permanut]

8. We came very close to a tipping point..

We may have backed away from the edge for now, but there are still black clouds on the horizon

Apologies for mixing metaphors.

[onetexan]

9. The Con wanted the prestige, power & profit the office affords him

[Silent Type]

10. Excellent post. Don't think trump thought he'd get nomination in 2016. Publicity

was why he ran. But his racism and bigotry caught on, and too many Democrats didn’t show up at polls or protested some junk by voting against Clinton. It still irks me. Hope we’ve learned a lesson and dig ourselves out of this mess.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. There were plans for a media empire after the 2016 election

TFG could have had a real media empire as compared to Truth Social

[vlyons]

12. I think he spends a lot of time imagining various vendettas and punishments for his enemies

He cultivates enormous hatred and ill will

[intrepidity]

13. Sorry Nance, he wouldn't trade anything for his MAGA support

Several million brain-dead minions who keep shoveling money his way? C'mon....

[NanceGreggs]

15. And that money isn't doing him any good, is it?

Nor is the blind adoration of the MAGAts.

He can't avoid his legal woes with either.

[intrepidity]

22. You underestimate the effect on his ego

That is all he has left, and is all he cares for: the unfettered adulation of his MAGAt-heads. It is probably literally the only thing keeping him alive atm.

I cannot conceive of anything that will sway these "people" away from him, and he sees the same.

He is a poor pathetic ego-maniacal delusional loser who just cannot see what is so obvious to the rest of us.

[NanceGreggs]

23. The effect on his ego ...

... has nothing to do with his effect on the rule of law.

[intrepidity]

24. In terms of whether he might regret having run for prez in 2016

(which I think was the thrust of your OP): No.Way. He would *never* go back to pre-MAGA days. Nope.

[NanceGreggs]

26. If going back to pre-MAGA days ...

... meant NOT being indicted and facing trial, he would go back in time in a heartbeat.

[intrepidity]

27. You give him infinitely more credit than I do

in terms of thinking rationally.

[BigmanPigman]

14. The greedy narcissist and wanted to run but not win

for the free publicity and a boost to his ego. Me, me, me!!!!!!

[markodochartaigh]

16. Nowhere is Trump as eloquent

as when he is the author of his own misfortune.

[NanceGreggs]

20. True that.

Maybe he can write a book about it some day.

[bmichaelh]

17. Does not think strategically

Trump has never demonstrated the capacity to think strategically.

It is always based on his immediate desires.

[IcyPeas]

19. How did trump KNOW back in 2016 that he wouldn't lose any voters if he shot somebody....

on 5th Avenue? I mean, we know what his supporters are like now but how was he so sure about it when he said it at the time?

[andym]

21. Trump lives for adulation from his supporters and fans

it's what drives him. The adulation he received as a candidate and President far exceeded any he previously achieved. So he wouldn't trade being President for any untroubled "halcyon days of yore". He also literally believes in Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking"-- if we can believe Mary Trump--, so he expects to win in the end, no matter how irrational that may sound to an observer.

[NanceGreggs]

25. So tell me how ...

... he thinks the adulation of millions of MAGAts will be worth prison time?

Do you really believe that he'll spend his time behind bars reminiscing about how he wouldn't trade being the leader of people he would never admit as members into his own resorts?

[intrepidity]

28. You honestly think he will go to prison? nt

[andym]

32. You don't understand: he almost certainly believes he will never go to prison, even if convicted

He believes he will always win, because he believes that positive thinking is magical-- he is likely delusional.
Much has been written about this:
For example, from a 2017 article: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/13/donald-trump-positive-thinking-215704/

"yet his fact-flouting declarations of positivity continue unabated. For Trump, though, these statements are not issues of right or wrong or true or false. They are something much more elemental. They are a direct result of the closest thing the stubborn, ideologically malleable celebrity businessman turned most powerful person on the planet has ever had to a devout religious faith. This is not his mother’s flinty Scottish Presbyterianism but Norman Vincent Peale’s “power of positive thinking,” the utterly American belief in self above all else and the conviction that thoughts can be causative, that basic assertion can lead to actual achievement."

This explains everything about Trump, from the document retention to the insurrection and beyond. Being elected President only confirmed his irrational belief.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

36. You're making the classic mistake of thinking that

A malignant narcissist thinks like a normal person

They don't. They're incapable of it. They don't want what you or I would want. They don't want anything for the reasons you or I do. And they especially don't go about getting what they want the way you or I would.

They don't think, "I could have this, but it's not worth it because I might go to prison for it." They don't consider what could happen down the road to them, because they don't think long-term. They don't worry about consequences in the least. They want what they want, now, and they don't care how they get it.

What's most dangerous about them is that they never think anything they do is bad or wrong ("it was a 'perfect' phone call" ). Even if someone tried to warn them about the possibility of getting in trouble for something they want to do, they think they're either so exceptional that nobody would have a problem with them doing it, or they think they're too smart to get caught. Or both.

Even if the law starts sniffing around them, they don't panic like you or I would, or have any worries or guilt about it. They always think they can outsmart the police, prosecutors, judges and juries to beat the rap.

If they do go to prison, they never spend it thinking about the adulation they used to have. Just like they don't consider the future, they don't think about the past, beyond making people pay for thwarting them. His MAGAt fan club? He'll by turns be angry at them for not "fighting hard enough" to free him, and at others, he'll try riling them up to do something stupid to free him. After all, the only thing he ever thinks about with them is the same as when he wasn't in jail: "What can they do for me now?" It's always and only about him, and getting whatever he wants.

That's all that ever matters to a malignant narcissist.

[ReadItnWeep]

33. He thinks he's the greatest

Sure, he likes to think he has billions of fans who love his stable geniusness, his handsome, healthy body, his great business acumen, etc.

And if Fox didn't continuously brainwash huge swaths , then Trump would just invent admirers who come to him with tears in their eyes to thank him for existing. He will keep putting fake Time magazine covers on the his walls He is delusional. He believes he can do no wrong. He believes all his criminal phone calls are perfect. And apparently whenever anyone dares to speak to him honestly he screams and throws things and throws a tantrum. But in a big, hulking, unstable way that keeps the truthtellers from coming back.

He might have a uge Maga following, but honestly, they're not following him - they're following whatever Fox tells them. And trump doesn't need them aside from their money, he has had an enormous group of admirers inside his deranged mind that will be there always.


But I would really really love for Putin to talk some shit about him when the two of them are at their absolute lowest. And that time may be approaching sooner than later.

[andym]

34. It's true that he has an enormous group of fantasy followers in his mind, BUT

he lives for his rallies and the actual fawning of his fans-- you can see it every time he speaks, and this is why ratings are so important-- OTOH he does fabricate them so that he is always the best.
I do agree he is delusional, which was my point as well-- the way it seems to work is that his delusion converts failure into fantasy success, but actual success is cherished.

[Conjuay]

29. him reflect?

sorry, that guy doesn’t reflect, he just points at someone else and blames them.

[CentralMass]

30. I don"t know what he thinks but I know that narcissists do not think rationally

They never except blame and think that they are never wrong.
However I do know he leads his nearest republican rival, DeSantis by 30 points or so in the 2024 presidential polls.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html

Are these indictments going to stop him ?
I'll believe when I see it

[kentuck]

31. He thinks he is still the President.

And so do most of his cult.