OPINION
Enemy of the People
By Tom Lamia
In his first term as president, Donald Trump established a reputation for being difficult and inconsistent. He then had a White House staff and agency heads who kept him from acting on his worst impulses. He regularly replaced those who counseled against his intentions, only to find their replacements to be similarly cautious. After an electoral defeat in 2020 and a second impeachment in which he narrowly escaped conviction, he was indicted for his role in seeking to prevent his successor from taking office and for absconding with classified documents. Later he was convicted in New York on multiple felonies for fraud connected with his 2016 election. This is only a partial record of his public service transgressions.
The phrase “enemy of the people” has hovered over politics at least since the Roman Senate applied it to Julius Caesar. In Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People the title refers to an expert, a biologist, called in by a spa town to analyze their healing waters. When the analysis revealed poison in the waters the expert became an enemy of the people because his findings were disastrous for the town’s economy.
In George Orwell’s 1984, Big Brother insulates himself from blame by directing the leader of his Brotherhood to conduct daily “Two Minutes Hate” toward a scapegoat “enemy of the people.” Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and other tyrants used it against oppositionists. Trump doubles down, he calls the press “the enemy of the people” that reports “fake news.” “Enemy of the people” is dictatorial shorthand for scapegoat.
When I had trouble sleeping on a recent night, I resorted to a time-tested remedy: counting sheep. Unfortunately, my attempt at losing consciousness was continuously interrupted by thoughts of Trump outrages. The list seemed endless, but not sleep inducing. I struggled to find a common element for each succeeding outrage. I believe there is one — narcissism. Even a superficial review of these many outrages suggests narcissistic behavior. Is Trump’s narcissism our enemy of the people, a scapegoat, or is his narcissism in control of our national destiny and a cause for his removal from office?
What is narcissism? How can it be recognized? What may be the consequences for people led by a narcissist?
According to the DSM-5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) must exhibit at least five of the following eight behaviors:
- Grandiosity
- Entitlement
- Lack of Empathy
- Preoccupation With Fantasies of Success
- Excessive Need for Admiration
- Arrogant Behaviors
- Sense of Superiority
- Exploitation of Others
My scorecard on Trump checks off each of these behaviors.
According to AI: “Malignant narcissism is a severe, unofficial subtype of NPD when combined with antisocial behavior, paranoia, and sadism. It is characterized by extreme grandiosity, a lack of empathy, and a sadistic desire to manipulate, dominate, or humiliate others. Unlike standard narcissism, this form includes vindictive, harm-seeking behavior and is considered a severe, destructive personality disorder.” Â
Trump seems to check these boxes as well.
What is the effect of a leader with NPD on organizations and societies at large? An AI summary: “The blending of narcissism with power often leads to a disregard for institutional norms and democratic processes, amplifying the risk to those governed by such individuals. It is crucial to recognize these warning signs and remain vigilant against their normalization in positions of authority.”
Trump’s NPD seems to be generally known to those exposed to him in governance, business and politics as evidenced by their treatment of him. Both subordinates and equals use flattery to win his attention and favor. Foreign leaders, elected officials, CEOs, university presidents and law firms all have used flattery, obeisance and other forms of bootlicking and servility to avoid the possible effects of confrontation even when that flattery takes on comic opera dimensions.
I am reminded of the behavior of Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts. Pulver fears and avoids his ship’s martinet captain (James Cagney) by hiding out in the ship’s laundry. When by inadvertence the two meet, Pulver grovels, seeking protection in the inconsequential nature of his duty as the ship’s laundry officer. Pulver later boasts to his cabin mates about standing up to the captain, to reclaim some vestige of personal dignity. The narcissistic captain is accommodated by the servility and life goes on for tyrant and target alike.
Confrontations with Trump lead to exile. Ask Rosie O’Donnell, Mike Pence, Liz Cheney or Barack Obama. Exile can end with an apology, a signal to the narcissist that the confrontation never happened. As president, Donald Trump’s pique threatens more than personal exile. His powers of exile include use of the wealth and power of the United States. It is chilling to contemplate how little it would take to trigger his vindictiveness and how little control he may have over his impulse to attack the source of the hurt.
In a recent New York Times op-ed Jamelle Bouie reviewed Trump’s language since entering politics, noting that it suggests that for Trump some Americans are “a little more American than others . . .” The distinction is “a function of race, nationality and, above all, allegiance to Trump.” The message sent by this view of who is an American is manifold, with none of its forms being acceptable in a president.
In this second term the Constitution’s checks and balances format has not worked according to design, but there is still time. Donald Trump is incapable of putting the national interest ahead of his personal interest. He has become an enemy of the people he swore an oath to protect. He is unqualified by temperament, personality and character to be president. He should be removed from office. Impeachment and the 25th Amendment are constitutional means for doing it.
