Last Thursday, I shared with you some thoughts on President Trump’s personality structure as he presents himself.
Conveniently, a few days ago, he gave a long interview to reporters from the New York Times which provides us with direct access to his framing of words and thoughts. Of note was his insistence that he is free to do anything he wants.
Asked if there were any limits on his global powers, Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Giving us another insight into what regulates his decision making, when asked why he needed to “own” Greenland, Trump said, “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success. I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with [when] you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.”
We might now ask how far a person who needs to “own” the world around him to feel secure is likely to be a responsible holder of a public trust with its many fiduciary duties of due care for others and its demand for a loyalty to something higher than oneself.