Richard Hogan: Trump is a gaslighting, grotesque narcissist

Last Friday in the Oval Office, the world got a frightening glimpse into how Donald Trump conducts himself in the complicated arena of world diplomacy

US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last Friday: What we witnessed was the gaslighting of a wartime president in full view of the world’s gaze.

Last Friday morning in the Oval Office, the world got a frightening glimpse into how Donald Trump conducts himself in the complicated arena of world diplomacy. But there was nothing complicated about what we witnessed. It was a garish car crash, straight out of his book, The Art of the Deal.

The art is, by the way: rubbish your adversary before you meet, call them a dictator or something like that, (make sure not to call the actual dictator a dictator — that might upset them) blame them for being invaded, insult their clothes before you start talks, say something like "he is all dressed up today" in a condescending tone as you meet outside the West Wing.

When you get him comfortable and sitting, shout him down, accuse him of being the one causing the conflict, (he invaded himself it seems) accuse him of playing with World War 3 because he wants assurances Putin will not break any deal after previously breaking deals and slaughtering his people.

Physically hit him a little bit to assert dominance, then accuse him of being disrespectful, have a patsy waiting in the wing to ask the important question: "Why don’t you wear a suit?"

You must continuously obfuscate the facts, and then and only then, do you chuck him out. Later, go on social media and blame him for the whole kit and kaboodle. It’s all part of the deal. And it’s bloody depressing.

Joseph Heller would have struggled to accurately capture the absurdity of that moment. Zelenskyy's outfit obviously irked Trump.

The Donald is a fashionista, easily offended by the attire of others.

Zelenskyy’s clobber obviously upset Donald, he had his people, after all, tell Zelenskyy what he wanted him to wear.

It’s hard not to LOL writing that. You can always tell when Trump is upset; whatever he says, he means the absolute opposite.

Like my eight-year-old self arriving into a desolate fishing village in France for our summer holiday, declaring to the drifting rain: "This is going to be some craic."

He can’t hide his emotions. He doesn’t have the processing skills. He is a terrible poker player. Even though he keeps reminding us, he has all the cards.

He also keeps reminding us he is the best president ever, even "better than George Washington". Again, LOL. Can you imagine Franklin D Roosevelt telling Churchill he started the war and be more thankful for the help they are giving him, and that he was a better president than Lincoln?

Or any president, for that matter, trying to leverage a country’s misery and world security so they can say, "look at the deal I got".

It’s grotesque. When things were completely out of control in the Oval Office, in a moment of limited self-awareness, Trump declared he allowed it to get so out of control to show the world what Zelenskyy was really like. But what we actually witnessed was the gaslighting of a wartime president in full view of the world’s gaze.

Gaslighting is a psychological manipulation technique in which one person attempts to convince another person, by bending or distorting their perception, that their reality isn’t true. Interestingly enough, it is a tactic most often employed by a narcissist to gain control over their intended target.

That’s what we saw. Our eyes did not deceive us.

It was in plain sight. And it was disgusting.

Paul Lynch’s 2023 Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Prophet Song captures with excruciating precision the collapse of a society into autocratic rule. It happens incrementally.

In full view. We are all watching with disbelief what is happening in America.

The Grand Old Party has transmuted into the cult of the personality.

The very idea of America is dissipating. America has always been a concept, a dream. But it has been annexed by a hostile takeover artist. Putin’s laughter must have echoed down the corridors of the Kremlin.

Trump respects power and wealth. That’s the long and the short of it. He is a narcissist. This means he cannot take responsibility for his own shortcomings.

He obviously blames Zelenskyy for his first impeachment — it was their phone call that led to it and ruined his chances of a Nobel Prize.

He so desperately needs one for his ego. Obama has one. But Zelenskyy ruined that; he got him caught shaking him down. Bloody Zelenskyy.

We are in dangerous times. The tectonic plates under which world order has remained relatively steady, is moving. Concepts of empire are raising their ugly head once again.

We need strong leaders more than ever. Trump is at pains to tell us he is a great deal maker.

Six business bankruptcies and 4,000 legal actions would suggest otherwise.

He is leveraging World War 3 for a good deal on Zelenskyy’s rare earth minerals.

He needs this so he can market it to his base as a huge triumph of his determination and strength.

It is a serious gamble, and we are all in play. What transpired in the Oval Office was an affront to democracy and showed just where the current American president’s loyalties lie.