If Power Corrupts, What Do We Have Here?" Trump's "profound inner emptiness"

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/opinion/trump-presidential-power-addiction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EFA.0YWN.sokz8ZkqbTEz&smid=url-share

President Trump is showing symptoms of an addiction to power, evident in his compulsion to escalate claims of dominion over domestic and international adversaries. The size and scope of Trump’s targets for subjugation are spiraling ever upward.

I asked Manfred Kets de Vries, a professor of leadership development and organizational change at Insead, an international business school, about Trump’s relationship with power.


He replied by email:

It is possible to become addicted to power — particularly for certain character structures. Individuals with pronounced narcissistic, paranoid or psychopathic tendencies are especially vulnerable. For them, power does not merely enable action; it regulates inner states that would otherwise feel unmanageable.

Donald Trump is an extreme illustration of this dynamic. From a psychoanalytic perspective, his narcissism is malignant in the sense that it is organized around a profound inner emptiness.

Malignant narcissism is a combination of narcissism and psychopathology. Because there is little internal capacity for self-soothing or self-valuation, he requires continuous external affirmation to feel real and intact. Power supplies that affirmation. Visibility, dominance and constant stimulation temporarily fill the void.

What makes this tragic and dangerous, Kets de Vries continued, “is that this dynamic is not playing out in the margins of political life, but at its center. He is not the dictator of a small, contained state; he is occupying the most powerful position in the world, with consequences for all of us.”

[llmart]

1. Excellent analysis of his personality, especially...

"profound inner emptiness".

[calimary]

5. He does seem to be searching for something - anything - to fill a void.

Or give him some sort of ultimate satisfaction. So far, it’s an impossible dream. A constant blank, or emptiness, that he’s spent his whole life trying to fill. But nothing works. Nothing helps. Nothing satisfies. Nothing is enough.

People both bright and dull, scholarly and gossipy, deep and shallow, will be talking and writing and arguing about him probably for years to come.

You’ll have left a mark, donald. No doubt about it.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. Many books will be written, no doubt, analyzing Trump

I bet that one of the reasons for his sleepiness, is spending the night reading news reactions to that day's Trump caused outrage

[LymphocyteLover]

2. of course-- the hell beast loves the endless attention he gets and the feeling he can do whatever he wants

it would mess with anyone's head, especially someone as psychologically damaged and demented as tRUMP

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

4. Which is why he is sending another 1,000 ICE agents to Mineapolis

He sent ICE agents to these blue cities to feed his cravings for reactions. He hit gold in Minneapolis with a US citizen killed on camera by an ICE agent.

The uproar will eventually fade so he has to put more fuel to the fire. Hoping for even greater reaction from the public.

It's not about immigration..its about how outrageous he can behave thru his power as president

[rubbersole]

3. That explains my day drinking...

Elected Republicans are responsible for everything that has happened to our country in the last year. Putin may run the show, but repubs let him.

[Orrex]

7. Then maybe he should just fucking die already.

[William Seger]

8. What about the delusions? That's what takes it from extreme personality disorder to psychosis

Power psychosis is characterized primarily by delusions of grandeur and delusions of unlimited power, both of which #rump has demonstrated abundantly. And it's getting worse, e.g. his declaration that nothing limits him except his own "morality."

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

9. "it's getting worse," include Trump putting his big head on park passes, coins, plaques, buildings

Yes, its getting worse. What is left? He renamed DC, "Trump City"