Narcissistic Political Frustration

Trump will not be able to deport 11 million immigrants without breaking the U.S. economy.

My training as a novelist forces me to study various personalities, interpret body language and describe changing facial features, among other curiosities specific to my profession. In the case of Donald Trump, my attention is drawn to the immense frustration that he confronts on a day-to-day basis at not being able to impose his points of view with an intimidating punch to the top of his luxurious mahogany desk in the Oval Office. It is impossible to forget when Nikita Khrushchev furiously hit, first with his fists and then with his shoe, the lectern from which he was making a protest speech in the United Nations, in October 1960.

Trump will experience difficult moments of contention since, for decorum’s sake, he cannot kick his fellow Republican Party members in the backside, not to mention the Democrats. There would not be enough trees in Washington to hang, to his taste, the directors of the FBI, the CIA, the editors of The New York Times, television and radio journalists, cartoonists, the brilliant meme creators, Angela Merkel, François Hollande and, why not, Enrique Peña Nieto, the insolent Mexican head of state who refuses to pay for the wall and dares to cancel interviews with the “leader of the world.”

Trump is used to imposing his decisions on his collaborators, associates and even bankers, through verbal violence; he intimidates them with his attitude, voice and threats. He knows that the more he grows, the more third parties will diminish in a business confrontation. Yes, but now the situation in the White House is different since he has to fight against a monster called opposition and another, shockingly, known as Republican institutions. Conclusion? Being unable to do what he wants constitutes an impermissible stumbling block for his narcissistic personality, incapable of withstanding opinions contrary to his own, since he is the indisputable holder of absolute truth.

When Eisenhower had spent two years in the White House, he confessed that learning to be the president of the United States had taken so much work! Perhaps, he missed the existence of a school for presidents, so that neither those that govern nor the entire world would suffer the consequences and benefits of so difficult and inopportune learning. In what university, if not in ruthless practice, could Trump learn to seduce his Congress?

Trump announced in his campaign: With one stroke of the pen I will end the free trade treaty with Mexico! He has not been able, nor will he be able, to achieve this, save for one adaptation to maintain the facade. The repeal of the treaty would be equal to a self-inflicted wound. What will a narcissist feel at having to swallow his words in public, as if he were chewing a live rat and swallowing without complaining? Trump will not be able to deport 11 million immigrants unless he intends to break the U.S. economy. Trump lies when publishing the number of jobs created in the last two months. He lacked the truth when he attacked Barack Obama over wiretapping. He misled when revealing the cost of the famous wall (now it seems to be digital) after he faced the inability to obtain resources for its construction. Trump deceived when he pointed out that he would end the Islamic State in 30 minutes and do the same to the Taliban. He also promised to subjugate North Korea, without considering that the Chinese would protest with due severity.

Since Trump arrived at the White House, he has received rejection after rejection from U.S. institutions. His appearance betrays his weariness: the weight of his narcissism, his worst enemy, is evident in the growing dark circles under his eyes and in the notable aging of his face. Yes, the obvious does not require proof, but Trump fails to imagine the consequences of his attempt to construct his wall, obviously by force, in Mexican territory. Mexico’s historic rancor will boil over at the border. I hope that someone explains to him that invading a country is not the same as constructing a golf course in Doral.