Donald Trump is a narcissist, uninterested in anything and everything that does not, in his view, redound to his personal advantage or disadvantage. Insofar as other people offer him praise and admiration (expressed, best of all, by making financial payoffs), he looks on them favorably. If someone denies him such recognition, it provokes his anger. Trump is utterly indifferent to anyone who falls into neither camp.
The president has enabled Elon Musk’s rampage through federal departments and agencies because Trump is impressed by the world’s richest man and, as the New York Times reported “[f]lattered that Mr. Musk wanted to work with him.” The president hasn’t given any thought to how the binge has affected civil servants, anyone who signed contracts that DOGE has reneged on, or folks who were to receive the goods and services that will not now arrive. Many Trump 2024 voters will be harmed by the destruction DOGE has brought. Trump, it is safe to say, hasn’t felt a pang of empathy (or pity or concern in any measure) for any of the people in harm’s way.
Empathy is not Trump’s thing, which is why a portion of Trump’s ranting at Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is revealing. When asked by a reporter what if Russia breaks a ceasefire, Trump responded:
Well what if they—what if anything! What if a bomb drops on your head right now? Okay? What if they broke it? I don’t know. They broke it with Biden because Biden, they didn’t respect him, they didn’t respect Obama. They respect me.
Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia—Russia, Russia, Russia, you ever hear of that deal? That was a phony—that was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam. Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam. And he had to go through that. And he did go through it and we didn’t end up in a war. He went through it, he was accused of all that stuff—he had nothing to do with it. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting. And then they said, ‘Oh, oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia.’ The 51 agents, the whole thing was a scam, and he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff. All I can say is this: He might’ve broken deals with Obama, and Bush, and he might’ve broken them with Biden. He did, maybe, maybe he didn’t—I don’t know what happened. But he didn’t break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if he can make a deal.
Trump has revealed empathic feelings toward Vladimir Putin, who Trump believes had to suffer accusations from the likes of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Adam Schiff. Trump is aggrieved on Putin’s behalf. President Trump feels President Putin’s pain — or what he is convinced is the pain Putin must feel (since Trump feels it so acutely).
Of course, in Trump’s mind the accusations against Putin — “Russia, Russia, Russia” — are identical (and equally unfair) to the accusations against Trump. The man with overweening narcissism identifies with the Russian strongman. What he, Trump, feels, he projects onto Putin.
OneLook defines empathy as “Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.” Trump, in this moment of anger at his own victimhood and at Zelenskyy’s disrespect of him, is displaying something very like empathy for another human being.
Trump is capable of this experience because he identifies with Putin. In Trump’s mind, he and Putin are both strongmen, coequals, fearless leaders of powerful countries. So, of course, since Trump-the-victim has been wounded by the accusations against him and Putin, then in the president’s mind Putin must feel the same way.
That’s not to say that Putin actually feels the same way as Trump. Since Trump’s projection into Putin’s mind and emotions is almost certainly wrong, perhaps empathy doesn’t apply. Perhaps pity is more accurate.
Still, this is a rare and remarkable expression of feelings for another person from our nation’s president. Unfortunately, this expression exposes Trump’s vainglorious obsession with himself and his own grievances.
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