What type of desperate fear would cause such irrational behavior?

[kentuck]

He's acting like a cornered rat.

He knows he has to talk with Mueller. Or he will get subpoenaed.

He always uses the tactic of delay when he doesn't want to do something, much like he has done with the Russian sanctions passed by the Congress.

The corruption bucket is full. It won't hold anymore. It's time to take out the trash.

[guillaumeb]

1. It is not irrational.

Trump has a very rational fear that his crimes will be exposed.

He obviously considers himself to be much smarter than everyone else, and Mueller's actions are destroying that fantasy.

[uppityperson]

15. I see it more basic, fear of not being in control, and lack of esteem

I don't know if he understands when he breaks the law. He's so used to bullying his way through to thinking he's wonderful, and suddenly it's not happening. Of course I could be wrong and he understands, but I don't know.

[shanny]

25. I agree.

His law-breaking has been standard-operating procedure his whole life and his ego / sense of entitlement / innate immorality preclude any awareness of guilt. But feeling like someone else has the upper hand? That would be horrifying.

[guillaumeb]

31. Do you see him as more childlike emotionally?

Where everything is about him?

[uppityperson]

36. Very much so.

[RockRaven]

2. fear of dying in jail?

He's always been able to bluster, then negotiate, and finally buy his way out of his self-created problems. That isn't going to work this time. And he's old. He knows the minute he enters prison he'll never be free again.

[handmade34]

3. don't think

he considers prison... most likely fear of losing money and what he considers power

[Generic Brad]

14. Fear of being exposed as a total fraud

Once he is figuratively pantsed and everyone sees his manhood is virtually non-existent, the humiliation of being seen as he really is is more than he thinks he can bear. So instead he overcompensates and claims he is the greatest and best at everything. He is lying and he knows it. But everyone else does not know it - yet. If his followers finally see him for what he is, it will crush him to the very fiber of his black soul.

[procon]

4. If Trump can convince the Court of Public Opinion it will

be harder for any politician to move against him. The Republicans won't in any case, but it could prove to big a leap for Democrats if the public sentiment is against indicting or impeaching Trump.

[GoCubsGo]

19. Yep, and that's exactly what he has been trying to do today.

He's doing what he usually does--trying to smear the people who he believes will take him down, in hopes that it will turn the public against them. This is the same kind of crap he's been pulling against Mueller and others all along.

[janx]

21. The problem is that he is

only addressing his base. This man has never been president of the United States. He has no concept of what that entails. He is in perpetual campaign mode, speaking to his base (which has shrunk by the way).

[SonofDonald]

32. Yep, but it's getting more strident now

I get the public sentiment angle but something has to be done and soon, you can't leave him in there and I don't want to watch Our Country degrade any more along with the rest of the thinking world.

Somethings going to happen soon I'd think.

[malaise]

5. He knows he's guilty

of treason

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Fear of being revealed as a fraud.

A guy who doesn't have as much money as he claims and who wouldn't have been elected without the illegal help of Putin and the Russian oligarchs who have been propping him up financially for years and using him to launder money.

I think that scares him worse than impeachment or even prison.

[lunasun]

35. I agree that's part of it . Not the big guy he made himself out to be is he?

[manor321]

7. My guess is they're forcing him to prepare for Mueller interview and he's freaking out n/t

[mercuryblues]

8. trump knows what he has done

and he knows what Mueller knows more than he does about who, what, where, and when, than he does.

Yes his tactic has been to delay.

He is pivoting to his phase of partially admitting a few small things with the caveat of so what, it wasn't illegal.

I think part of his plan is to keep doing illegal things to make Mueller investigate it, also delaying the end.

[duforsure]

9. Guilt!

That's why the attacks , accusations, and wild claims trying in desperation to derail this investigation of him and his family.

[Uncle Joe]

10. The fear of being disowned by one's own nation

That would be pretty unbearable for most anyone

Thanks for the thread, kentuck

[Laffy Kat]

11. At this point he's got to be a huge flight risk.

Hope they're watching him like a hawk. Wonder if he'll "disappear" and live out his days in Russia? That would actually be OK with me; anything to get rid of him.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. Yeah, I could live with that.

[StTimofEdenRoc]

20. Will he fly off on Air Force #1, or his own 757 ?

[magicarpet]

34. No... On his super secret stealth exit to Mother Russia....

.... trDump intends to use 1,600 large weather helium balloons. And just float off into the arms of Comrade Putin who will be vacationing in Siberia at his hunting camp. During his time away from the office Putin likes to ride around naked on a big brown Russian Grizzly bear because it looks so damn macho alpha male. If Putin manages to conceal his man boobs he does indeed look very manly riding around naked in the thick woods at his private lodge.

Putin has a taste for kink, and trDump has his various fetishes, so they get along fine and really make for a wonderful boys night out - sado masochistic, mild to wild kink, and a laundry list of sexual fetishes - type tag team.

Once trDump is exiled from America by Mueller - Russia is one of the few places who would gladly greet trDump with open arms and a very warm smile.

[Laffy Kat]

39. Wouldn't that be the ultimate FU if he took AF1? nt

[denbot]

40. He wanted to replace AF1's pilots with his own

No dice Shitler, the AF1 is a call sign for US Air Force, and American military pilots don’t approve of treason.

[yonder]

22. Living in Russia. Stay away from tall buildings, I'd advise. nt

[Laffy Kat]

28. Not sure. He may still be of use to Putin.

Think of all he knows.

[dawg day]

37. Melania

"I was born in the USSR. I'm never going back there. You're on your own, Dumbass Donnie."

[Takket]

12. his only hope is to gaslight the people to turn them against mueller

Congress is the only thing that can save him so his strategy is to gaslight and hope the rethugs hold the house and/or Senate this November. i'm convinced mueller is actually done investigating and just running out the clock until the elections.

the problem is mueller's team can't really speak so the only side that gets any play in the media is drumpf's. i'm concerned if opinion erodes further that drumpf will eventually feel "safe" enough to disband the investigation.

[Miles Archer]

13. Extreme delusion regarding the "effectiveness" of Giuliani

That, and legitimate guilt.

[Girard442]

16. Problem is, we're totally in unexplored territory now.

There is exactly zero chance the the leadership of the Republican Party isn't as dirty as Trump is. There is also zero chance that Putin isn't a major player here -- and he has very little to lose for any bad outcome.

At this point it's all unknowns. The endgame could be anything, up to and including tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue.

[Freethinker65]

17. Trump cannot solve this problem by throwing money at it

He cannot solve the problem by threatening to sue, which also requires money.

In my opinion, Trump has no way to deal with people or situations that cannot be solved with money or threats involving money. It drives him insane because he cannot understand it. That is why he hates the liberal elite, entertainers/celebrities and New Yorkers that refuse to interact with him despite his money. Remember him trying to find entertainment for his inauguration and what he ended up with? That drove him crazy. So unfair!

This is another situation that he thinks should be easily solved by offering money to buy people off and/or threatening them. Loss of job equals loss of money and possible loss of pension, etc. he cannot comprehend how anyone could not respect the all powerful Trump's (and his money) demands.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

23. Narcissistic psychopath says it all.

........ .......... .........

[fierywoman]

24. So basically the SNL cold opening last night is exactly on the money?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. He's not afraid of anything.

He's a megalomaniacal narcissist, and in his own mind he has done absolutely nothing wrong.

He is very pissed that the Mueller investigation goes on and on, which accounts for his saying today he's going to order the Justice Department to investigate whether his own campaign was spied on. He's simply lashing out. There is no, has never been, a coherent plan for anything. He prides himself on just going by his gut. Notice the way he says extremely contradictory things all the time, often saying one thing one hour and the exact opposite the next.

Because he grew up with a lot of privilege and has been able to exactly what he wants whenever he wants his entire adult life, he simply doesn't comprehend rules and normal behavior.

So he's going to continue to lash out, say and tweet truly stupid things, while making sure that things like the EPA are gutted, the CDC loses funding, and on and on. This country will probably never fully recover from the damage he's already done, let alone how much more he'll do however long he's in office.

[dawg day]

38. " He's a megalomaniacal narcissist, and in his own mind he has done absolutely nothing wrong. "

Well, he's thinking, "If I do it, it doesn't matter if it's wrong."

[CanonRay]

27. Well said Kentuck

[wiggs]

29. He's just getting started. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

30. Wanting to be thought well of as the Greatest Person in the World

but suppressing the realization of all the crimes committed to attempt to become that person and all the suppressed guilt and shame and fear that goes along with that.

Caught in a revolving door of greatness and adulation juxtaposed with crime/guilt/shame/fraud. That's why #FakeNews keeps bubbling up, he knows that HE is the fake news, the biggest fraud ever.

It must be like being trapped psychologically in the revolving door of a department store at Christmas time, where you're outside and it's COLD! but immediately you're inside and it's WARM and the door keeps going round and round.

[calimary]

33. Indeed. He's acting like a guilty man.

Even Trey Gowdy saw that.

Anybody who really was innocent would welcome any investigation because they’d have the confidence of knowing it wouldn’t turn up anything compromising or questionable. If they really were clean, there’d be nothing funky to find.

As Michael Avenatti put it, back at the start of this particular mess, “those who have nothing to hide - hide nothing.”




I STILL want to see those tax returns...

[Westcoast52]

41. Good Insights By All

Too bad Trump voters can't see what we see. For my money, Trump is now trying to reverse roles and play prosecutor to neutralize his fear and anxiety. He always lashes out and tries to get ahead of the curve. Compile his tweets to date and we have one enormous pile of 'guilty mind'.