Trump’s Narcissism
Donald Trump is the world’s foremost narcissist. Partly as a result of this, he now finds himself with a new job. But while his narcissism proved to be an asset on the campaign trail, it has resulted in non-stop political farce since he became President of the United States. Whether dismissing mainstream journalism as ‘fake news’, incessantly bragging about a landslide victory that didn’t happen, or allegedly boycotting state visits so as not to face protests, Trump’s proclivity for constructing his own alternate reality has left both the US and the global community in a state of confusion, anger and incredulity.
Often Trump’s antics seem frivolous. But consider for a moment the implications of a man with such an overt psychological complex being in charge of decision-making in the White House. In the cynical world of international politics, would he not be prone to manipulation? Could a foreign power not appeal to his base instincts to win influence and support? Indeed, in the case of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, this appears to be precisely what occurred. By stroking his ego, a regime Trump had once vociferously attacked attained enormous sway over his foreign policy pursuits.
This essay will argue that the Donald Trump’s leadership, combined with his narcissistic personality, offers foreign nations a unique opportunity to bypass America’s internal foreign policy decision-making process. It is split into three sections: an evaluation of Trump’s narcissism, analysis of how it impacts American foreign policy decision-making, and a case study of Saudi Arabia’s not-so-subtle manipulation of Trump’s narcissism.
A Narcissist in the Oval Office
“People with strong narcissistic needs want to love themselves, and they desperately want others to love them too — or at least admire them, see them as brilliant and powerful and beautiful, even just see them, period. The fundamental life goal is to promote the greatness of the self, for all to see.”
Narcissism centres around self-adulation. Narcissists view everything through a prism of self; they are addicted to a fantasy vision of the world that revolves around them and their perceived grandiosity. They manipulate the people around them to ensure they receive only positive, aggrandizing feedback, and dismiss information that challenges their personal self-conception. As long as they can maintain this reality, they often come across as composed and charismatic. However, when an event or information disrupts their constructed reality, they can become volatile.
Donald Trump appears to fit this mould. As Dan P. McAdams notes in his profile of Trump’s psychology, he seems driven by a fundamental motivation to be known as the ‘greatest’ in his every endeavour. From the early days of his education to now, he has sought glorification on an ever-larger scale without ever emerging satisfied. Alex Morris echoes this sentiment in his piece questioning Trump’s mental fitness for office for Rolling Stone, declaring that his behaviour indicates ‘a constant quest for narcissistic supply’. He views every interaction in his life as a contest which he must not only win, but with everyone knowing that he won.
Further supporting the narcissist diagnosis has been Trump’s pathological refusal to accept negative feedback. Whether it is poor poll numbers, media criticism or mass protests, the President has persistently (and loudly) denied news that doesn’t fit into his fabricated reality. This inability to accept information at odds with his beliefs and desires has also been apparent in the turmoil within his inner circle. Trump has fired many of his closest advisors in a frenzy of never-ending organisational drama. Such externalisation of blame is consistent with the narcissistic tendency to avoid ever taking responsibility unless it leads to praise and veneration.
As White House dysfunction has emerged as a quotidian feature of the news cycle, members of the psychological community have taken the extreme measure of publicly asserting that Trump has narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Despite it being against their code of conduct, many have come forward to allege that Trump’s unrealistic sense of self and need for constant affirmation and praise reveals a textbook case of NPD. They claim this diagnosis to be in the public interest, as it indicates that Trump is unfit for office. Whether or not this is the case, the fact that such an issue has been a prominent feature of public discourse underscores just how unprecedented a personality like Trump’s is in the oval office.
Executive Vulnerability
The narcissism of Donald Trump ensures that the decision-making behind American foreign policy is vulnerable to manipulation via appeals to his delusional sense of self. This is particularly important in the context of two issues. The first is that Trump came into office without a coherent foreign policy platform. While he espoused ‘America First’ on the campaign trail, the implications of such rhetoric for American foreign policy have not been particularly obvious. Allies have found themselves unable to interpret US diplomacy, perceiving it as improvised, arbitrary and unpredictable. Moreover, Trump has flip-flopped on his foreign policy positions on a day-to-day basis, a volatility exacerbated by his lack of an evident ideology as well as his failure to provide adequately resources for the State Department and its diplomatic missions. This has had the consequence of forcing foreign countries to go straight to the executive branch for clarification on America’s international stances. Yet when they have asked questions, all they have got is incoherent answers.
Secondly, as Valerie Hudson notes, a leaders personality increases in significance when they are (or become) interested in foreign policy. This is a particularly important insight when considering a man whose attention-span is notoriously slight. Putatively orthodox decision-makers within the administration, like Rex Tillerson and James Mattis, might be inclined to endorse the status-quo in US foreign policy. However, if Trump’s attention can be piqued, he can take-over the decision-making process. Furthermore, if his ego can be flattered, he can be easily convinced. Combining these observations with the Trump administration’s lack of a foreign policy platform leads to an ominous conclusion for the US establishment: Trump has blank-slate when it comes to foreign policy, and an amorphous approach to diplomacy that can be potentially swayed by those who play into his narcissistic self-aggrandisement. In no instance has this been more obvious than during the President’s trip to Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s Visit to Saudi Arabia: A Welcome Fit for a King
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump declared Saudi Arabia to be a place where women were enslaved and gay men were pushed off buildings. He also alleged that the government was directly involved in the September 11 attacks. Yet when he visited Saudi Arabia this year as President, he signed a $110 billion arms deal, praised the kingdom’s leadership and its efforts in fighting terrorism, and endorsed the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar. How did his position change so dramatically? The answer partly lies in Trump’s aforementioned policy incoherence. His initial attack on Saudi Arabia rang hollow at the time, seemingly motivated more by the political convenience of linking the Clinton Foundation with a dubious regime than by any real principles. More importantly, however, is the way in which the Saudi’s used Trump’s narcissism against him to take advantage of his diplomatic ambivalence.
Monarchs know a thing or two about celebrating themselves. It therefore is not surprising that the Saudi regime excelled at flattering the President from the moment he stepped off of Air Force One in Riyadh. Whether it was billboards, a giant projection of his face onto a hotel, bestowing him with the kingdom’s highest civilian honour, or expressing how superior he was to his predecessor, Trump received more than enough affirmation to comprehensively validate his sense of self. In return, the Saudi’s got exactly what they wanted. Trump pivoted from his allegations of Saudi-backed terrorism to blaming Iran for the regions extremist problems. Moreover, he endorsed the Saudi plan to diplomatically isolate Qatar from itself and its other neighbours in the Gulf.
The success of Saudi Arabia’s manipulation of Trump’s narcissism is manifest in the remarkable departure that the President’s new position represented. Qatar is an important US ally, home to the biggest American military base in the region. After Trump fired off a raft of tweets in support of the blockade, the rest of the US administration went into damage control. Furthermore, although the hypocrisy inherent in accusing Qatar of supporting extremism while siding with the regime underpinning Wahhabism clearly did not matter to the President, it certainly did not look good to the rest of the world. Such a massive change in strategy would normally involve years of planning, institutional cooperation and an enormous outlay of political capital. Instead, by engaging in cynical sycophancy in an appeal to Trump’s narcissism, Saudi Arabia succeeded in directing American foreign policy towards precisely the position they desired.
Conclusion
Whether or not he has narcissistic personality disorder, Donald Trump’s narcissistic tendencies are clear for the world to see. As the Saudi Arabian case shows, this makes it possible for foreign regimes to influence American foreign policy by leveraging the President’s grandiose sense of self. In doing this, the internal decision-making process traditionally underpinning American foreign policy can be circumvented via a malleable President with little-to-no policy platform.
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