I'd love to be able to offer something upbeat today but the best I can offer is this:
A look at just how miserable things are going to get for Trump's closest allies.
1/
A look at just how miserable things are going to get for Trump's closest allies.
1/
As I've prattled on about at length over the past few months, I know narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) like the back of my hand...
Thus, I get Trump far better than he assuredly even gets himself... 2/
Thus, I get Trump far better than he assuredly even gets himself... 2/
I can tell you how things are going to go for his most loyal hangers-on after having seen it up close for a decade now.
Summary statement: it's gonna suck royally for every last one of them.
3/
Summary statement: it's gonna suck royally for every last one of them.
3/
Narcissists have a profound knack for pulling people into a dynamic where the entirety of the universe exists to serve the narcissist and their needs.
What feels like a "relationship" is just a one-sided service of the narc.
4/
What feels like a "relationship" is just a one-sided service of the narc.
4/
While that seems obvious to people on the outside, it doesn't feel that way on the inside. People close to the narc *deep down inside* know it ain't mutual but STILL think there is SOME mutuality there... 5/
The KellyAnne Conways and Hope Hicks of the Trump universe know they're serving Trump... but in the back of their minds, they think Trump is somehow also serving them... or would if they needed him to. 6/
Even as they see others learn the hard way that Trump serves no one but Trump, they'll still hold on to the idea that they're somehow different.
That's just how it works with narcs. It's crazymaking. 7/
That's just how it works with narcs. It's crazymaking. 7/
Bringing this back to the "their misery will be our eventual joy" portion of the show, it is almost certain that the Trump camp will come apart... and it'll likely go down as follows...
8/
8/
As the pressure from the Mueller investigation mounts, Trump will become ever more irrational and demanding of "his people". The already lopsided relationships will get even more so...
9/
9/
Trump will lash out at each and every person who thought they were close to him for failing him somehow...
10/
10/
In parallel, Hicks and Conway and even Don, Jr. - and every other sycophant - will be slowly getting ground into a miserable paste by the mounting stress in their own lives... 11/
They'll be under crushing financial pressures poised to truly ruin their lives. They'll be facing legal jeopardy of their own. They'll be in a meat grinder...
...and it will be all Trump's fault - and he won't remotely care.
12/
...and it will be all Trump's fault - and he won't remotely care.
12/
Even worse, there will come a moment in each and every one of those relationships where the hanger-on has been killing themselves for Trump and HE entirely "splits" on them. He'll turn on them...
13/
13/
I have watched this play out countless times.
The person who did EVERYTHING finds themselves on the receiving end of a brutal lashing for having not done enough.
The abuser claims to have been abused.
14/
The person who did EVERYTHING finds themselves on the receiving end of a brutal lashing for having not done enough.
The abuser claims to have been abused.
14/
Although each and every person in Trump's orbit will have seen it happen to someone else, they won't see it coming in their own case... and they'll be shocked when it's them.
Make no mistake, it will happen to each and every one.
15/
Make no mistake, it will happen to each and every one.
15/
There is a reason why there is no one in Trump's orbit who isn't connected by blood or politics.
He has no friends. He has no lasting relationships. He is a human wrecking ball.
16/
He has no friends. He has no lasting relationships. He is a human wrecking ball.
16/
By the time this is over, the ones the most crushed by what is to come will be the ones who worked the hardest to prop Trump up.
His loyalists think they're earning equity with him; they're merely scaling a higher cliff which he will someday push them off.
17/
His loyalists think they're earning equity with him; they're merely scaling a higher cliff which he will someday push them off.
17/
This includes Don, Jr. and Eric. It includes Jared. It includes every cabinet member and adviser.
The only wildcard is Ivanka.
She may well get pushed from the sinking ship as well... or she may ride it to the bottom with Trump.
We will see.
18/
The only wildcard is Ivanka.
She may well get pushed from the sinking ship as well... or she may ride it to the bottom with Trump.
We will see.
18/
In the meantime, if it is of any consolation, every single one of Trump's enablers is in for a brutal fall from the Trump orbit which will all but ruin them personally.
They are in for a world of suffering - and they won't see it coming until it's their time on the cliff.
19/
They are in for a world of suffering - and they won't see it coming until it's their time on the cliff.
19/
There are lots of folks around here who know narcissistic personality disorder and have seen it up close. I'm sure they'll chime in below in the comments... and I'd be shocked if they disagree.
This is how profound narcissists work. There is no alternate ending.
<end>
This is how profound narcissists work. There is no alternate ending.
<end>
p.s. while I’ve posted these before, here are the characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder.
Takes only five for diagnosis.
Judge for yourself whether Trump checks the boxes.
Takes only five for diagnosis.
Judge for yourself whether Trump checks the boxes.
