Donald Trump is a despicable human being and the worst president in the history of the United States. But that description doesn’t fully capture all of his flaws. That’s why we need to turn to psychiatric nomenclature in order to better understand why Trump is so dangerous to the United States and the world.
One step in that direction was made clear by an article in the September 27, 2025 issue of New Scientist: The Truth About Narcissists: How to Handle Them, and Can They Change? Here’s a PDF file.
The truth about narcissists: How to handle them, and can they change? | New Scientist
The article starts off with a personal observation by the author, David Robson.
Looking back, the signs were obvious: an extreme need for control, a pathological tendency to exaggerate and an almost comical sense of superiority.
My family member claimed to know more than everyone about everything, no matter the topic. He claimed to have the makings of a world-class teacher, doctor, writer or athlete, while also boasting about his modesty. Any disagreement would result in shouty rants or violent outbursts.
Family friends could barely believe it when I told them. “When he meets us, he acts like charm personified,” is how one put it. These were all classic traits of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), a condition characterised by a disregard for the feelings of others combined with an extreme sense of self-importance, often manifesting in interpersonal abuse. At the time, however, I had no way to make sense of this family member’s behaviour – this was before the conversation around narcissism had reached its current level of social saturation.
Robson’s family member wasn’t Donald Trump. But he sure sounds a lot like Trump. Trump likes to claim that he’s the world’s best in lots of areas. He knows more about tariffs than any economist. He knows more about construction than any architect. He’s the best peacemaker ever, deserving of multiple Nobel Peace Prizes. He’s also the least racist person anyone could ever know. And that’s just scratching the surface of Trump’s undeserved grandiosity.
The description of narcissistic personality disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) makes it even more clear that Trump perfectly fits this diagnosis. Robson writes:
NPD, according to its DSM definition, is characterised by grandiosity, a desperate need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. People with the condition frequently overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments. The bloated ego comes with a sense of entitlement, a need for praise and constant attention, and a feeling of alienation – in the narcissist’s view, it would be impossible for other mortals to recognise the problems that come with being so extraordinary. Narcissists are also often preoccupied with envy, either being very envious of other people or convinced that other people are envious of them. Finally – and perhaps most damagingly – many of them manipulate and exploit others, with little regard for the hurt they cause. The consequences can be emotional and physical abuse.
Also, abuse of an entire nation, if the narcissistic happens to be the president of the United States. Unfortunately, Trump manifests two other disorders that go hand-in-hand with narcissism.
Narcissism is also considered one side of the “dark triad”, a trio of personality traits that can drive callous and cruel behaviour. Psychopathy, characterised by impulsivity and a lack of empathy, and Machiavellianism, marked by manipulative and sometimes amoral attitudes, make up the other sides.
Psychopathy and Machiavellianism — these also describe Trump. He’s notoriously impulsive. Trump just broke off tariff talks with Canada and imposed an extra 10% tariff on goods not covered by the current North American free trade agreement because the province of Ontario shared a televised video that accurately showed Ronald Reagan speaking about the downsides of tariffs — which Trump absolutely loves.
Trump demonstrates almost zero empathy toward his fellow human beings. He delights in cruelty and insults. But when people make fun of him, Trump lashes out, as he’s incapable of recognizing his flaws and weaknesses because of his narcissism. Trump uses people. He is incapable of relating to people in anything other than a King/Subject fashion where underlings have to praise him in an almost comical fashion to keep their jobs
I heartily agree with the last sentence in Robson’s article: we’re better off without narcissists in our lives. That’s why 2028 can’t come soon enough for me. We’ll elect a new president who isn’t Donald Trump.
Some leopards, it seems, can change their spots – but it remains to be seen how common this is. The individual needs to acknowledge their faults, after all, which won’t come easily to someone who doesn’t believe they have any. As I found after decades of interactions with my family member, there is often no reasoning with a narcissist. In their eyes, they can do no wrong, and we are simply better off without them in our lives.
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