Entering the Orbit of a Total Narcissist: Who's Who in Donald Trump's Inner Circle

The Guardian ^ | April 15 2016 | on Swaine, Oliver Laughland and Ben Jacobs

[Savage Rider]

From his career in New York real estate to his extraordinary campaign for the White House, the court of Donald Trump has operated much like that of Louis XIV of France: everything revolves around the imperious, bouffanted Sun King.

“He is a total narcissist, and what you see here is the way he’s always been,” said a source intimately familiar with Trump’s way of working, who declined to be identified criticising a potential president. “This, between you and me, will be the destruction of the United States.”

[Leto]

Who accepted Obama, certainly not those here who noticed that Trump was a narcissist like Obama.

[PIF]

RCP: Clinton still beats Trump by 9.9 and Cruz by 3.4 in the General. Kasich beats Clinton by 6.7. Sanders beats everyone.

[CodeToad]

You mean like Cruz surrounds himself with narcissistic people such as Glenn Beck??

[goodnesswins]

Bingo

[dynoman]

That is not set in stone. It WILL change.

[Sacajaweau]

He’s accomplished and everyone knows it.

[stocksthatgoup]

Compared to Obama?

[TimPatriot]

I met Cruz at an early fund raiseraiser, there are two narcissistic, phoney sociopaths running, one is Cruz, the other is Hillary.

[dynoman]

[dynoman]

[dynoman]

[Mrsgell]

Very good points tinyowl!

[LiveFree99]

He also said that he’d consult with himself about foreign policy, and actually freely admitted that in public.

[erkelly]

Hard to believe someone who works with Donald Trump and is closely associated with him would speak this way of him. I think someone made this up.

[austingirl]

Trump also says he has a good brain and says a lot of things. He is right about the latter.

[mjp]

Narcissism can range from a very self confident feeling of star quality, which,if backed up by actual talent, skill, and knowledge,is not necessarily bad, to personality disorder, which often leads to problems that are severe enough to cause failure. Trump’s history seems to be more consistent with star quality narcissism rather than personality disorder.

[Albion Wilde]

The envy is strong with this writer.

[Outlaw76]

Being an incredibly successful CEO of a tech company does not predict that you can run a clothing manufacturing, or food production company. Heck, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run a tech company in a different segment very well.

Not all businesses are alike. Unless you know what makes makes the business successful you will fail and the business will fail with you. Unless you know how the business works - fail. Unless you understand the organization and have some control of your employees are hired and fired - fail.

[Outlaw76]

Being an incredibly successful CEO of a tech company does not predict that you can run a clothing manufacturing, or food production company. Heck, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run a tech company in a different segment very well.

Not all businesses are alike. Unless you know what makes makes the business successful you will fail and the business will fail with you. Unless you know how the business works - fail. Unless you understand the organization and have some control of your employees are hired and fired - fail.

[exDemMom]

From the headline, I thought this was going to be about Cruz, who actually does display narcissistic tendencies. He is personally abrasive, and has the ends justifies the means attitude of many narcissists. Most narcissists never accomplish anything, because their personality does not allow them the kind of self-reflection that helps people improve themselves.

Here are selected traits of narcissistic personality disorder, as listed by the DSM-5:

• Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
• Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
• Exaggerating your achievements and talents
• Requiring constant admiration
• Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
• Taking advantage of others to get what you want
• Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
• Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner
  "Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence, it's not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal and value yourself more than you value others." Source: The Mayo Clinic

  Note that I did not include other traits which one might deduce or guess from Cruz's behavior, for which I have not seen direct evidence. The second item, not having the achievements that would support one's claims of superiority, is especially relevant, as Cruz is trying to convince people that he is qualified to be president without demonstrating having the requisite skills or experience. Also, the item about taking advantage of others--does Colorado sound familiar to anyone?

  Now, your statement, "Trump being surrounded by uncouth, combative and ignorant yes-men is a problem.," is a gross mischaracterization. Trump surrounds himself with experts whose opinions he listens to in order to make informed decisions. A president needs to be able to do that. Those who surround themselves with "yes-men" rarely achieve much because their inability to listen prevents them from identifying and fixing problems. Hitler, for example, surrounded himself with "yes-men" and threw tantrums any time one of them said something he did not want to hear. So they kept telling him that the Germans were winning gloriously, when, in fact, his war effort was collapsing. Other dictators surround themselves with yes-men, as well--I have never heard of a dictatorship that was also a bastion of economic growth and freedom, have you?