The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump

Abstract

The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump provides a coherent and nuanced psychological portrait of the 45th president of the United States. Drawing on biographical events in Trump’s life and on contemporary research and theory in personality, social, and developmental psychology, the book explores the personality traits and psychological dynamics that have shaped Trump’s life, with an emphasis on the strangeness of the case—how Trump again and again defies psychological expectations regarding what it means to be a human being. The book’s central thesis is that Donald Trump is the episodic man. He lives in the moment, outside of time, without an internal story to connect the discrete scenes in his life. As such, Trump perceives himself to be more like a superhero or a primal force, supernatural and timeless, rather than a flesh-and-blood human being with an inner life, a remembered past, and an imagined future. Trump’s psychological status as the episodic man helps us understand both Trump’s appeal (in the minds of millions) and his failings. The book’s interpretation of Trump sheds new light on Trump’s charisma, his deal-making, his volatile temperament, his approach to personal relationships, his narcissism, and his emergence as a new kind of authoritarian leader in American history.

The personality of populists: provocateurs, charismatic leaders, or drunken dinner guests?

“…As perhaps the best symptomatic example, our data reveal that Trump's personality is characterised by extreme extraversion, off-the-charts narcissism, high psychopathy and Machiavellianism, very low agreeableness and low emotional stabilityall of which is in line with several accounts published elsewhere (e.g. Hamblin 2016;McAdams 2016McAdams , 2016Nai and Maier 2018;Nai et al 2019;Olbermann 2016;Visser et al 2017).…”

Donald Trump, Populism, and the Age of Extremes: Comparing the Personality Traits and Campaigning Styles of Trump and Other Leaders Worldwide

“…Regardless of their diagnostic value, these considerations overlapped with a narrative that portrays Donald J. Trump-the billionaire, the candidate, and now the president-as impetuous and quick to anger, thin skinned, constantly lying, insecure, brazen, vulgar, uninterested in details, and boasting a grandiose sense of self and an exaggerated vision of himself and his accomplishments (Cillizza 2018). Many have suggested that Trump exhibits "sky-high extroversion combined with off-the-chart low agreeableness [… and] grandiose narcissism" (McAdams 2016) and that he could possibly "present a diagnosis of psychopathy" (Olbermann 2016). His actions display "a messiah complex, no conscience, and lacks complete empathy" (Hoise 2017).…”

Open Peer Commentary and Author's Response

“…The first author recently completed an intensive psychological study of the life and personality of U. S. President Donald J. Trump (McAdams, 2020). The study's central thesis is that Donald Trump has no inner story in his mind about who he is, how he came to be, and where his life may be going.…”