Trump and flattery: A dangerous combination

The ego of an alpha male can lead to bad decisions if left unchecked

Raven, over at Whisper from the Trees, wrote a great post recently about the differences between Paleocons and Neocons. But the part of the post that resonated with me the most was about Donald Trump’s susceptibility to flattery:

Trump is extremely susceptible to flattery and will overlook almost anything his underlings do as long as he considers them to be loyal to him as an individual. Further lets not kid ourselves he is a womanizer and thus susceptible to a woman younger than himself whispering poison in his ear. Normally this is just gossip rag fodder but unfortunately in this case it has deadly serious policy implications.

Trump’s titanic ego

Donald Trump is an alpha male, and one of the problems with alphas is that they have gigantic egos. In Trump’s case, his ego is larger than the planet. This, unfortunately, means that an alpha like Trump is highly susceptible to flattery. You can say or do the nastiest things to such alphas, but if you change course and kiss their ass, they eat it up because it feeds their narcissistic egos.

Trump, of course, is notorious for this very thing. In his first administration, he was surrounded by many people who hated him and did everything they could to undermine him and sabotage his agenda. However, none of that mattered, so long as they were careful to kiss his ass whenever necessary.

Such a large ego means that men like Trump can be blind to the dangers of flatterers. This is nothing new; kings and emperors over millennia have had to deal with court ass-kissers. Such people always gravitate toward power, and they have no scruples whatsoever when it comes to kissing ass to obtain power and influence.

Alpha males need enforcers to protect them

However, wise kings and emperors have always made sure that they had someone around them to deal with the flatterers. It might have been a prime minister or some other enforcer type that would cut through the flatterer’s bullshit and stop them from oozing their way into the ruler’s favor without first proving that they were on the ruler’s side all the way.

Trump, unfortunately, did not have an enforcer in this first administration to protect him from flatterers. They were allowed to run wild, which adversely affected his entire time as president. If he had had an enforcer to keep the flatters at bay, he might have gotten much more of his agenda enacted as president.

Does he understand this? Will he do it differently in a second administration? We won’t know until the second administration happens, but I doubt it, knowing Trump’s ego and lack of self-reflection.

Alpha male egos and bad personnel hiring

Trump’s ego is one of the reasons he makes such bad personnel choices. Even if you did him wrong in the past, he’s very likely to forgive you and welcome you into his administration if you just kiss his ass publicly. I expect Nimarata Haley to do just that after Trump wipes the floor with her in what’s left of this campaign. Nimarata understands Trump’s titanic ego far more than DeSantis does, and she’s likely to try to capitalize on it to get herself into the administration.

However, it is very dangerous for the country itself and for all of us as individuals to be subject to the whims of Trump’s ego. This is why he needs somebody to act as an enforcer or gatekeeper in his next administration, to keep the backstabbers and liars at bay when they all rush in to kiss his ass after he wins the presidency for the third time.

You know that this is going to happen: when he wins again, every ass-kisser on the planet is going to come out and try to get on his good side. Trump’s track record in the past is terrible on this point, but he will likely welcome them with open arms if they swear their allegiance to him publicly. It is entirely possible that his next administration will be sabotaged by such people, just as the first one was in 2016–2020.

Lurking in the background: Jarvanka

Of course, this does not take into account Jarvanka. Trump’s daughter and son-in-law were two of the worst culprits in the first administration, and they are likely to be just as bad in another administration. There’s nothing more dangerous than “daddy’s little girl” being able to influence his personnel and policy choices. Supposedly, the two are not involved in politics anymore, but if you believe that, then I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

Jarvanka are lying low right now because they are hated by Trump’s base, and he knows it. They are likely to make their reappearance shortly after the 2024 election if he wins, and they will no doubt have their dirty fingers in the second administration, just as they did the first.

I don’t know what can be done about Jarvanka since they are Trump’s family. After November, he will never run for office again, and will only need his MAGA voters once more for the midterms. Perhaps that will be enough to prevent him from letting Jarvanak run wild in the second administration. We’ll see.

You should hold your nose and vote for Trump anyway

Do not mistake my criticisms of Trump’s ego as “never-trumper” nonsense. I still recommend holding your nose if you don’t like Trump and voting for him anyway. He is your only chance to throw a punch at the Deep State, and the rest of the filth and scum in the imperial capital of Washington, DC, via the ballot box.

With all of his faults and frailties, Trump is the only game in town if you do not like what has been happening in the country since Biden stole the election in 2020. That does not mean I like him, or trust him, or believe any of his bullshit, as I pointed out in my open letter to him a while ago. It just means that I recognize the political reality of 2024 and accept it.

Thus, I will hold my nose and vote for Trump anyway.

---

How you can support my writing

• Please share this post

• Tip with Buy Me A Coffee

• Tip with crypto

Thank you; your support keeps me writing and helps me to pay for rent, electricity, food, car payment and insurance, heat, and other necessities.

All contributions from readers are greatly appreciated. 👍🏻 💀