Donald Trump Is An Emotional Weakling: Here's How To Manipulate Him

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

This is a somewhat different take on how to deal with Trump's fucked-up personality.

Having a fragile, approval-craving narcissist as president isn’t the end of the world. It just means that to get him to do the right thing, you have to pet him. In Trump’s post-election exchanges, we have several useful models. The first is Obama, who gave Trump a tongue bath in their 90-minute meeting on Nov. 10 and may have saved his signature legislative achievement in the process. Three days after that meeting, Trump told the Journal he was reconsidering his pledge to abolish Obama’s health insurance program: “Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced.”
...

During the primaries, Trump had pledged to “open up our libel laws so when [journalists] write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” But in his meeting with the Times, Trump said someone had later warned him, “It’s a great idea, softening up those laws, but you may get sued a lot more.” “You’re right, I never thought about that,” Trump recalled telling this person. And that reflection led Trump to assure the Times that on the question of libel laws, “You’re going to be fine.”

...

That’s how you move Trump. You don’t talk about ethics. You play the toughness card. You appeal to the art of the deal. You make him feel smart, powerful, and loved. You don’t forget how unmoored and volatile he is, but you set aside your fear and your anger. You thank God that you’re dealing with a narcissist, not a cold-blooded killer. And until you can get him safely out of the White House, you work with what you have. People in other countries have dealt with presidents like Trump for a long time. Can we handle it? Yes, we can.

Lots more here: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/how_to_manipulate_donald_trump.html

[bravenak]

1. So treat him like Mad King Aerys?

Sounds about right

[Dustlawyer]

2. Bill Moyers takes the opposite view and makes a great argument about how Trump

played the NY Times who admired his place and his demeanor and "tempered" his stances on issues like Climate Change. He claimed to have an "open mind" except then he cites the hottest day was in 1898 in the next breath. He confuses weather with climate and no follow up question.

Moyers main point is that our journalist and media failed us for profit.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I'd read that article too, and thought this one was an interesting counterpoint.

Both have good points, I think.

[regnaD kciN]

4. The problem is, narcissists will tell people what they want to hear...

...so, while someone like Obama may be able to momentarily influence him when they're able to talk to him, his own cabinet officers as well as the Republican congressional leadership will be able to talk to him almost nonstop. And, when he tells them what they want to hear, it will turn into bills and policy.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. This is true. But what apparently happens is that he is influenced by

or sucking up to whichever person he wants to impress, so the result is not consistent policy but chaos. I expect Trump's administration to be a non-stop revolving door, with people going in and out who pleased him one day and angered him the next.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Except all the people with closest access to him are going to be right-wing Republicans.

So he'll do whatever they say just because they flatter him.

One of the reasons I'm skeptical we'll see a "more moderate" Trump.

He's not super-partisan but incredibly egotistical. And that's every bit as dangerous as super-partisan.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I don't think he'll be at all moderate, for exactly that reason.

But his administration will be chaotic because there almost certainly will be nonstop infighting. My hope is that, because his "management" depends entirely on who pleases him the most on any particular day, he won't be able to get as much done as someone who had an agenda besides self-aggrandizement.