When Donald Trump denies you interviews because you spoke with one of his old enemies, there's little left to do as a biographer than to look elsewhere. As the Pulitzer-prize winning author Michael D'Antonio found while working on Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success, that can mean turning to the extensive collection of psychology books that posit Trump as the epitome of a narcissist.
Donald Trump's psychiatric status is an overarching question that writers and filmmakers and even psychologists have long tried to answer. Trump was offered as a journalist's paragon of narcissism at least as far back as 1988. Trump makes an appearance in texts for the profession, including Abnormal Behavior in the 21st Century and Personality Disorders and Older Adults: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment. He also appears in books for laypeople such as The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement; Help! I'm in Love with a Narcissist; and When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself.Many recent books about narcissism echo Christopher Lasch's landmark Culture of Narcissism (1979), a lament that would have us place Trump in "an age of diminishing expectations." Lasch saw an epidemic of self-involvement emerging as young adults with a weak sense of identity sought continual affirmation in attention, material comforts, and exciting experiences. What Lasch feared, Donald Trump lived with more verve than anyone else on the planet. Others may have matched him in one category, such as fame. But no one equaled him on all three levels of narcissistic achievement. [Politico]
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Germany arrests anti-Islam Saudi in SUV attackSpeed Read The attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg left five people dead and more than 200 wounded
-
2024: the year of movie musicalsIn the Spotlight 'Wicked' is merely the latest in a run of musical-minded films this year
-
Trump floats taking control of Panama Canal, GreenlandSpeed Read President-elect Donald Trump says the US should take over Greenland, hours after threatening to take over the Panama Canal
-
Putin says Russia isn't weakened by Syria setbackSpeed Read Russia had been one of the key backers of Syria's ousted Assad regime
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump caseSpeed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdownSpeed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdownSpeed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdownSpeed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorismSpeed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about BidensSpeed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes chargesSpeed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
