For example, only this belief explains the way,
- defying his patent intent to deceive, Kim of North Korea got him to play along like a lovesick puppy in talks about denuclearization;
- upending US intelligence findings, Putin of Russia got him to defy the findings of US intelligence agencies to parrot Russian propaganda about election interference;
- plying the Trump organization with petrodollars, MBS of Saudi Arabia got him to accept the infamous butchering of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi; and
- emulating Putin’s military adventurism, Erdogan of Turkey got him to betray the Kurds.
‘Well, that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States,’ Clinton replied.
‘No puppet,’ Trump said, talking over her. ‘You’re the puppet. No, you’re the puppet.’
(USA Today, January 14, 2019)
No doubt you recall that exchange Hillary had with this dupe during their debate on October 19, 2016. It started after Trump said Putin had no respect for Hillary. But he wasn’t just talking over her. He was experiencing a reflexive, clinical case of projection.
The psychopathology afoot here is called projection. It is defined by people attributing to others traits, faults, and blame that inhere in themselves. And it explains almost every insult Trump has hurled at his opponents throughout this presidential campaign.
So when you hear him calling other people crooked, insecure, weak, beholden to special interests, liars, etc., be mindful that he’s just revealing self-conscious truths about himself, dimwittedly.
(“Forget the Clinton Foundation. Shut Down the Trump Organization!” The iPINIONS Journal, August 26, 2016)
Still, it’s bad enough that cagey KGB Putin is playing him like this. But Clinton could not have imagined that even a baby dictator like Kim would be playing him like a puppet too. #NATIONAL SHAME & DISGRACE
Trump’s narcissism makes him a sucker for the idle flattery dictators lavish upon him. But it’s also his dictatorial predilections that make him so susceptible to their puppetry.
Related commentaries:
denuclearization…
Russian interference…
forget Clinton…
killing Khashoggi…
Erdogan of Turkey…
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