The Madness of King Donald
It seems to be common knowledge that Donald Trump is a narcissus, with a lower-case 'n'. The upper-case Narcissus of Greek mythology fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, fell in and drowned. Trump just has an inflated self-image.
Or, if we choose exaggerate just a bit, just to spice up the story, he may be said to suffer from Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), a mental health condition characterized by a long-term pattern of grandiosity, an intense need for admiration, and a profound lack of empathy. Following this train of thought to its logical conclusion, we can predict the progression of his brain disease to its inevitable endpoint: psychosis. So, let's do that — you know, just for fun! I adapted what follows from the work of Gleb Smith, a trained clinical psychiatrist.
Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by persistent feelings of personal grandiosity which require constant confirmation. The patient is dependent on his reflection in others but remains able to test his self-image against reality. He knows that his grandiosity requires confirmation and attempts to manipulate his environment in ways that produce a constant stream of it.
If he is successful in doing so, the constant stream of admiration dulls his critical sense, which eventually atrophies. This leads to Stage II in the progression of his disorder, which is characterized by delusions of grandeur or megalomania. Critical sense is lost and his personal grandiosity becomes axiomatic — no longer requiring confirmation. Information that contradicts the axiom no longer corrects his understanding of reality but becomes incorporated in a delusional thought system.
All that is required to make a transition to Stage II is an excess of confirmation. An entourage that consists entirely of flatterers and yes-men eager to block out any negative feedback is naturally conducive to this end. Once our patient reaches Stage II, the idea of his personal grandiosity, which continues to receive constant confirmation and becomes the main focus of most activities, is not yet entirely severed from reality. But the threshold of proof becomes ever lower for facts that confirm grandiosity and ever higher for those that contradict it.
The critical transition to Stage III occurs when the idea of grandiosity begins to generate reality instead of being confirmed by it. This is accompanied by an accumulation of "magic coincidences": instances of success, including delusional ones, are seen as resulting directly from the patient's own thought process: "I thought it — and it happened!"
High-status individuals, such as the US president, tend to become surrounded by people who are eager to please them by accommodating them in every possible way, anticipating their needs and wants and performing various tasks without being asked. The narcissistic mental filter then filters out the intermediate steps: not "I am influential and people react accordingly" but "I want it to happen — and it happens." In effect, "My consciousness forms the world." The end-point of this process is full-blown solipsistic delirium, far beyond mere megalomania, as in "I am the greatest," and firmly embedded in a hallucinatory reality, as in "Reality is a product of my consciousness."
We now trace Trump's trajectory through the past year.
January 2025, Inauguration. Trump declares: "The golden age of America begins now!" The "golden age" will not come, will not begin — it already has begun. Reality has been changed by the mere fact of Trump's presence because it is a product of his thought.
February–March 2025: Testing the limits. Trump issues a series of executive orders that withdraw the US from a number of international organizations (World Health Organization, Paris Climate Agreement, various UN agencies). In doing so, Trump follows an internal logic: "These international structures pretend to be able to limit the expression of my will but my will is limitless and therefore these structures are imaginary. Therefore, I need to prove that they do not exist."
April–June 2025: Widening the borders. Trump expresses territorial pretensions: Panama, Canada, Greenland. He at first voices them as something of a joke but then they turn serious. He is testing the waters: "Can I talk about territorial expansion without serious pushback?" The result: Yes, he can. Now he can expand the borders of his dominion simply by thinking them.
July–October 2025: Elimination of internal controls. Trump makes a series of impulsive decisions, raising and lowering tariffs and making threats against both allies and competitors. The adults in the room are forced out. Everyone admitted to the White House is entirely loyal. Not a single person can face Trump and say: "Your tariffs are a tax on American consumers and are inflationary." Trump's solipsistic consciousness is 100% cocooned.
November–December 2025: Preparing for the breakthrough. The war plan against Venezuela is worked out. A critical moment comes when the generals at the Pentagon say that it's risky but Trump insists and they obey. This is a new level of confirmation: "Even those who control the military bend to my will!"
January 3–4 2026: The operation in Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro is kidnapped. The operation is technically a success. Trump's internal logic is followed: he thought, he ordered, it was executed, the enemy is in jail. This confirms the direct connection between his will and the result even when it comes to kidnapping heads of state.
January 5–7 2026: A cascade of threats. Trump publicly threatens eight countries in parallel. Why all at once? Because is internal logic has changed: "If I can do this to Venezuela, I can do this to any country!"
January 7 2026: Breaking with global order. Trump's memorandum withdraws the US from 66 international organizations. This is a public demonstration: "Global organizations do not exist!"
January 8, 2026: "My own morality." Trump gives an interview to the New York Times. When asked whether there are any limits on his power, he responds: "My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me." This is the perfect formulation of solipsistic delirium, spelled out before a global audience. Why would he do that? It's another test: "If I say this out loud and the world doesn't react, then my power is truly limitless."
January 21, 2026: Trump's speech at the conference in Davos. The remarkable aspect of this speech is the number of factual errors Trump made. It is clear that at this point he isn't interested in anyone else's facts: he makes his own. That is, Trump inhabits his own reality. The following list, compiled with help from Grok (sorry, but sometimes AI saves a lot of time going through boring trivia), summarizes some of his factual errors.
Grok provided a caveat: "While these fact-checks come from established media outlets, they may carry inherent biases; however, the corrections are substantiated by historical records, official data (e.g., from NATO, energy agencies, and government statistics), and cross-verified facts."
Claim: The US "gave Greenland back to Denmark" after World War II, implying it was US territory to return, and referred to it as "a piece of ice" or "Iceland." Correction: Greenland was never US territory. Denmark retained sovereignty throughout WWII under a 1941 defense agreement allowing US bases, but no ownership transfer occurred. Post-war, Denmark continued control, and Greenland's population (over 56,000) opposes US takeover. Trump also misnamed it as "Iceland."
Claim: The US paid "virtually 100%" of NATO's costs before Trump's involvement, and the US has "never gotten anything" in return from NATO. Correction: US defense spending accounted for about 62-72% of total NATO member spending in recent years (down from 71% in 2016), not 100%. The US contributes ~16% to NATO's organizational budget. NATO invoked Article 5 after 9/11 (the only time), aiding the US in Afghanistan with troops and resources from allies.
Claim: NATO countries "weren't paying their bills" or "weren't paying anything" until Trump intervened, and now they're paying 5% of GDP. Correction: The 2% GDP target is for national defense spending, not "bills" owed to the US or NATO. In 2016, non-US NATO spending was $292 billion (rising to $482 billion in 2024). By 2025, all 32 members met 2% for the first time. The 5% is a 2035 goal.
Claim: China makes wind turbines but has no wind farms and doesn't use them, only selling to "stupid people." Correction: China leads globally in wind energy, generating 997 TWh in 2024, with massive farms such as Gansu. As of 2024 China had 70% of installed global wind capacity.
Claim: The UK taxes oil companies at 92% of revenues, making it "impossible" for them to operate. Correction: North Sea oil/gas firms pay 40% corporation tax plus a 38% windfall tax on profits (total ~78%), not revenues. This is higher than standard 25% corporate tax but applies to profits only.
Claim: Secured commitments for a "record-breaking 18 trillion dollars" in investments. Correction: No evidence supports $18 trillion. The White House website lists $9.6 trillion in announcements, but even this is inflated (e.g., a $1.4 trillion UAE pledge).
Claim: "Settled eight wars" (listing Israel-Hamas, Israel-Iran, Egypt-Ethiopia, etc.). Correction: Most conflicts persist: e.g., no full Gaza ceasefire; Congo fighting continues; Egypt-Ethiopia was tensions, not war; no peace treaties in several cases. US role is overstated or absent in some.
Claim: US has "virtually no inflation" or "no inflation," down from Biden's "worst in American history." Correction: Inflation was 2.7% in December 2025 (up 0.3% monthly). Biden's peak was 9.1% (2022), a 40-year high but not all-time (23.7% in 1920). It fell steadily under Biden to 3.0% by January 2025.
January 22, 2026: Trump ratifies Board of Peace. Looking at this organization's charter, it is essentially that of a transnational mafia organization. The "capo dei tutti i capi" is Donald Trump himself: he can add and remove members, veto any decision, spend money any way he likes and name his successor. The price of membership is $1 billion. King Donald indeed!
And there we have it: Trump is the undisputed leader of the universe and he directly shapes reality using the power of his own mind. He doesn't even need to tell anyone about it because the universe responds directly to his thoughts. It's nice to be Trump, isn't it?
Well, not quite. You see, reality exists outside of Trump's solipsistic delirium. Moreover, it exists not because Trump supports its existence with his will, but often in spite of that. Reality does not cease to exist just because the patient has declared that it doesn't. It is unaffected by amateur theatrics in which the patient dons a white coat and the other patients call him doctor.
At some point the contradictions become impossible to ignore. The world fails to obey. The economy does not respond to Trump's declarations of its unbounded growth and universal prosperity. Political allies sense the looming disaster and either turn into political opponents or simply run away. Midterm elections approach and are likely to severely limit his official prerogatives. His body ages and his death approaches. The result is catastrophic mental tension. A personality in a state of solipsistic delirium has no coping mechanisms for coming to terms with such contradictions and finds itself in the throes of psychosis.
At the moment, Trump persists in a state of euphoria: the triumph of his will was demonstrated in front of a who's who audience at Davos and nobody objected. Some of those in attendance even applauded. This means that his will is indeed triumphant. But then will come frustration as reality demonstrates its independence from his will. The possible resolutions of this tension are somewhat predictable:
• Paranoia: "Enemies are blocking my will. They are conspiring behind my back. The Deep State is sabotaging my initiatives. My enemies must be found and destroyed."
• Need for a demonstration: "Reality doesn't understand that I am serious. I need to stage a demonstration my power that will dispel all doubts."
• Psychotic rage: "This uncertainty is intolerable! What's needed is an ultimate crisis, as a result of which either the world will confirm my omnipotence, or it will be destroyed."
I hope that you are duly impressed by the epic sweep of this narrative. But will Trump destroy the world in a fit of psychotic rage? I don't think so! There is a fundamental fallacy inherent in this entire analysis: it treats Donald Trump as a real person whereas he is just a television/social media personality. He is not the president — he just plays one on TV. The US presidency has steadily drifted in the direction of being headed up by media personalities rather than real statesmen, culminating with Biden, who didn't just play a zombie on TV but actually was one. the POTUS is backed by a cast of characters who play federal bureaucrats on TV and who do periodically run amok in various ways. But the "union" is unreformable and fast becoming ungovernable, and opportunities for constructive action within the federal government are rapidly disappearing.
Do I deny that Trump has any agency at all? Not at all! Trump is, first and foremost, vane, thin-skinned, resentful and vindictive. These are the character flaws which he acts out as much as he can within the limits of his power. He wants to destroy Obama who once invited him to the Correspondents Dinner at the White House only to ridicule him before the entire audience. He wants to destroy Zelensky who provided evidence for his failed impeachment during his first term. The facts that Obama is still not in jail and that Zelensky is still alive indicate the limits of Trump's power. His list of enemies is as long as his remaining time in a position of power is short — and his enemies need not be too afraid.
But is Trump going to destroy the world or take over the Western Hemisphere or make America great again? I dare say, anyone who entertains such thoughts must be a clown — just like Trump is.
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