Trump's very, very brief public appearance yesterday raises a question:

[MineralMan]

Is he afraid to expose himself in public, for fear of his life?

I wondered that last night, as I saw TV coverage of his brief foray into the open air. Maybe that's why he wants to retain his own private security guard force. Perhaps the man is afraid of everyone now. Paranoia can coexist with many personality disorders.

On a related topic, how would the Secret Service deal with an armed private security detail around Trump? It is their duty to protect the President, and such a private security force would not be vetted and trained to Secret Service standards. I see the potential for some real conflict over this decision on Trump's part.

[dhol82]

1. Probably listened to the Alex Jones screed

That would put the fear of God in him.

[Hamlette]

49. what was the Alex Jones screen? n/t

[dhol82]

50. Something about assasination

http://www.salon.com/2016/12/20/alex-jones-the-cia-is-trying-to-assassinate-donald-trump/

Bet that got the con's attention.

[Hamlette]

68. Jesus what a fruit cake. Thanks for the link. N/t

[WestSeattle2]

2. Well the man (I use that term loosely) is a known conspiracy theorist. Throw paranoia on top

of his narcissism and apparent sociopathic tendencies, and we have one hot mess for a president. It's probably just a matter of time before he has a mental meltdown. As a FB meme noted a few days ago, watching this buffoon - and his merry band of kleptomaniacs, is like watching a small child play with a loaded gun.

[tblue37]

69. Like this--only with a huge military and nuclear weapons:

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Girard442]

3. "Paranoia is a social disease..."

"...You get it from screwing other people." -- Paul Brodeur

[RKP5637]

5. Well said!!!!! n/t

[JudyM]

9. Good one! Welcome to DU!

[2naSalit]

20. And there you have it.......nt

[treestar]

4. Possible

He is probably as shocked as anyone that he is in this position.

He knows he lost the popular vote and is not wanted by the majority. This could add to the sense that someone will go out of their way.

[RKP5637]

7. I don't think he ever expected to win. Behind that stupid poker face of his I saw the look of

fear/shock in his eyes that night sitting next to Obama, like WTF just happened. He has to know that the majority of the country does not want him in that position.

[wordpix]

24. I saw that "WTF did I get myself into?" look also

deer in the headlights.

[RKP5637]

34. Yep! n/t

[Lotusflower70]

51. Agreed

I don't think he wanted to win. He really has no idea what he has gotten in to. He actually has to work now even with advisors and such. It's a high stress job. It ages a person. He looks horrible now, I don't want to imagine what he will look like in 4 years.

[RKP5637]

56. I don't think he'll make it four years. The stress he's under now is nothing like Real Estate stress

and a lot of presidential stress is out of his control. He's going to find world leaders will not be impressed by him and will tell him to F off, and he will have little recourse unless the fool escalates us into a war.

[Lotusflower70]

57. True that

Last edited Fri Dec 23, 2016, 01:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Control is a huge thing for him. He goes apeshit when he doesn't have it. Or having his ass kissed and ego fed. My friends from other countries think Trump is a joke. He is an absolute embarrassment.

[RKP5637]

60. Yep, he's a total buffoon! The whole world is laughing at him and he doesn't get it! n/t

[HoneyBadger]

6. The Secret Service deals with armed local cops and armed diplomatic security all the time.

Much of Trump's family's security detail are ex NYPD. Trump has been in the public eye for a very, very long time.

[MineralMan]

10. Where the President's safety is concerned, the Secret Service

runs the show. That's where the conflict is likely to arise. Yes, they rely on local law enforcement for general crowd security and route security when a President is out and about, but they remain in complete charge of personal security for the President, or have always in the past.

If Trump insists on having his own armed security people around him, there is going to be conflict with the Secret Service. The first questions will be: Who is in charge? Who makes the decisions about agent placement and procedures?

Trump's campaign security team played fast and loose with the law during his events. They often took actions that are extra-legal. That's another potential source for conflict, both in the White House itself and outside of the White House.

Trust me, there will be conflicts in policy and procedures between the SS and Trump's security team. Who's going to take the lead?

[ManiacJoe]

48. Trump's private security is all unarmed.

They are bouncers at his public events.

The top security guy gets afforded a little more courtesy but not much more.

[randome]

8. We will see very little of him during the next 4 years. He cannot handle being President.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[libtodeath]

11. Good.

[Cracklin Charlie]

12. He is afraid.

Because he watched what they did to Hillary Clinton.

He knows what can happen to him.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. I think he's afraid for his life.

So, he would rather hire his own.

Probably a big mistake.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. He should be afraid.

He let the crazies loose and one of them may come for him.

[pipi_k]

30. I think so too, especially

if/when he doesn't follow through with many of his campaign promises that apparently lured lots of people to vote for him.

There are crazies who want that wall built.

There are crazies who want (probably all) Muslims kicked out of the country.

There are people who believed what he said about fixing the economy. More jobs, blah blah blah.


I forget what else he promised.

There are going to be lots of pissed off people out there, and I'd be willing to bet most of them will be Republicans.

[leftyladyfrommo]

38. Well don't forget the old folks

Social security and Medicare. And Medicaid. Those are pretty touchy subjects, too. Backing out on that promise.

And draining the swamp. Backing out on that one now, too.

All just catchy phrases to get folks to vote for him.

And locking up Hillary. That was just for fun. Never meant it.

I think he has flopped on everything . All just fun ideas on the campaign trail.

[no_hypocrisy]

15. Sword of Damocles

According to the story, Damocles was pandering to Dionysius, his king, and exclaimed to him that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles so that Damocles could taste that very fortune firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great fortune and power comes also great danger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles

[MineralMan]

16. Excellent illustration of Trump's dilemma.

[dionysus]

41. Pretty fair account of what happened. That was a long time ago, i had to sit

Last edited Thu Dec 22, 2016, 10:28 PM - Edit history (1)

And think about it for a bit...

[no_hypocrisy]

45. Back atcha

[Wounded Bear]

17. Having "won" the election...

he probably realizes that he has fulfilled his purpose for most of his supporters and he's of little use any more.

Even as a figurehead he probably has little purpose. His rallies are drawing fewer and fewer people and he hasn't a clue what he's doing. Putin, who has succeeded in deligitimizing our democracy and weakened it to who knows what degree, probably has little further use for him. Even his supporters are having those "well, I didn't really think he'd do that" feelings.

I can't imagine anybody really likes him. He probably should be a bit paranoid. He knows one thing, "useful idiots" don't survive long after their usefulness is exhausted.

Not to mention, the whole dog and pony show has the look and feel of him not really doing anything. I suspect his kids and handlers are making the bulk of the decisions, out of sight of the prying press. All the real decisions are being made behind closed doors, more so than ever before. 2 of the last 3 Repub presidents have been largely figureheads, anyway. Trump is the culmination of that progression.

[rgbecker]

18. If I was suddenly told I needed 24 hour protection

supplied by a bunch of bureaucrats who would surround me every waking and sleeping minute, I'd be fucking outta my mind with fear.
How different is it from being confined to a jail cell? The life of a celebrity would seem like the life of Riley in comparison. Very few celebrities have an opinion on anything that would possibly upset some crazy guy like the president does.

[MineralMan]

19. That's true for every President, and for most heads of state.

It comes with the job. Probably few really understand that until they have the job. One of the things the Secret Service does is to monitor threats against the President. In that, they are aided by the FBI and other alphabet agencies, including the NSA, I'm sure. A private security team will not have access to such information, which is why protection of the President, VP and their families is provided by the Secret Service.

No doubt, the Secret Service shares information about credible threats with the President to a certain degree, but they will not be sharing that information with hired thugs, since it is highly classified and those hired thugs have no need to know.

Bottom line is that the Secret Service is detailed to protect the President by law. They have the ultimate authority and responsibility to do that job. If Trump's private security team interferes with that, they will be removed from the White House and prevented from even getting near Donald Trump.

I foresee a quick end to any private security force for Trump. It will simply not be allowed, and Trump will be told frankly why that is the case. The man has no idea what he's in for, frankly. He has no concept of what the job requires and entails. He will soon learn that he's not really the all-powerful boss he thinks he is.

[pipi_k]

32. Well there really are

some bright spots in all of this, potentially...

It's going to suck having to see and hear him on a constant basis.

Having to worry about him doing something unbelievably stupid and dangerous.

But damn...won't it be fun to see him turn into a hot mess over the fact that being president isn't going to be like his stupid ass reality show. He won't have the authority to tell the Secret Service they're fired.

That, and seeing him mocked on SNL probably every week.

I see the potential for some highly entertaining moments in the next four years, assuming he can stand the pressure that long

[Caliman73]

29. And yet...

Almost every President has handled the situation with an air of dignity and grace. Hell even W went to Iraq and got a shoe thrown at him and handled it pretty well.

Trump is a mentally weak. He is probably one of the most emotionally fragile Presidents we have had rivaling even the paranoia of Nixon.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I think that he will have some kind of medical or psychiatric crisis before the second year of his term.

[pipi_k]

33. Hahahaha!!!

Almost every President has handled the situation with an air of dignity and grace. Hell even W went to Iraq and got a shoe thrown at him and handled it pretty well.

As much as I disliked Bush, I had to admit he had some awesome reflexes there.




PS...made me wonder how much practice he had dodging flying objects aimed at his face

[mobeau69]

61. by Laura.

[2naSalit]

21. He wasted no time in dissing the Intel community

so no wonder he is paranoid, he fully anticipates an armed overthrow. I suspect there is something else coming down the pike that this will be the start of where he will eventually say that it was his private security who was on the job and further piss of the real intel community.

Just sayin' none of this happens without leading to something worse in a brief matter of time with this clown.

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. That I think he is scared to death of the press.

The questions they ask are something he can't control. And he doesn't know enough to answer them without making a fool of himself.

[BeyondGeography]

26. Yup...he's fine with going out in front of his adoring public

Nothing can stop him there. But questions and his inevitable missteps? Scary stuff, now that the world is really listening.

[Tanuki]

44. Yep, he couldn't even respond to a mild question about a statement from his own

press release the day before, and made a fool of himself by reacting as if he was hearing it for the first time and wondering who said it!

[TrekLuver]

55. Yes it's this...he is no KellyAnne Skankway.

[leftyladyfrommo]

63. She is just as bad.

I can't even look at her. I just skip on by.

[TrekLuver]

65. At least she would be able to answer the questions....it sincerely looks like he is avoiding

the press at all costs, and it's not because they're "crooked"....he is out of his league and he knows it and we are all fucked.

[leftyladyfrommo]

67. Yea but she answers them all wrong.

These people are mystifying to me. Truth plays no part. It is just the spin.

[LanternWaste]

23. How much time would he need to spend in public to objectively illustrate he's not in fear for his li

How much time would he need to spend in public to objectively rule out he's not in fear for his life?

[MineralMan]

25. Gosh, I don't know, really.

How much do you think?

[pipi_k]

35. My own guess would be

as much time as past presidents have spent out in public, and would he be willing to mingle with regular citizens out in public to the same extent past presidents did.

On average, I mean.

[wordpix]

27. report when he first announced candidacy was he lived in a cocoon

Went in and out of the Tower through private elevator, avoided people he didn't know.

A whole new ball game now, right?

[MineralMan]

28. It's actually pretty easy for a President to remain a recluse.

There are a few required appearances, but not that many. I don't expect to see him in public much after January 20.

[kimbutgar]

31. Maybe there is a teeny tiny little guilt that he knows he really didn't win but was installed

With the help of red states sos's and Putin's hackers? He knows he's illegitimate and that is why is saw so testy about it on twitter. I think this will gnaw at him throughout his POS. Personally I hope it chews him up so he offs himself.

[pipi_k]

36. I really doubt

He has the ability to feel guilt or shame or compassion or any of the other usual human emotions.

Which is probably why many who didn't vote for him think he's a sociopath. A thought with which I agree, BTW.

He's super scary

[Ilsa]

46. I agree with pipi. He's not capable

Of feeling guilt or shame. He once stated that he hadn't ever asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong.

[BSdetect]

37. Another COP coward candidate (how's that ankle problem now drumph?)

I hope he is exposed as being mentally feeble soon. I'm sure he is delusional. Early onset alzheimer's

[3catwoman3]

39. I think the 24/7 surveillance of the Secret Service...

...may be more than DFT (Donald Fucking Trump) can handle. He is used to being able to do whatever he wants and go wherever he wants, whenever he wants.

That will all come to a screeching halt January 20th. The Secret Service monitors the POTUS' every move. I am sure they even know when he go to the bathroom, and, unless the oval office bathroom is extremely well soundproofed, they can probably even discern which bodily function is being performed.

I think that kind of scrutiny will drive him over the edge.

[Horse with no Name]

40. I only wish for a big massive blood clot to dislodge from somewhere

I don't wish for anyone to harm him.

[MineralMan]

42. I wish ill on nobody. Bad karma.

Just a habit I have.

[Horse with no Name]

43. I have no control over blood clots.

[Jamastiene]

47. Nobody would try to kill Trump.

The extreme right loves him and the left doesn't want to get stuck with Pence. Everyone in the middle does what everyone in the middle always does and just ignores the worst part of his personality.

He is probably the safest president we have had in a long time as far as that sort of thing goes.

[coco22]

58. The extreme right..

loves him for now,that is who he needs to worry about.

[sarcasmo]

52. Trump is - the man in the high castle. The high castle in this case, Trump Tower.

[Ken Burch]

53. "Is he afraid to expose himself in public"?

I hope and pray that he is.

Believe me, MM, NOBODY wanted that image.

[kairos12]

54. His private security is the beginning of his Brown Shirts.

[milestogo]

59. I hope so.

[MFM008]

62. Let's hope so

If the rest of us get death threats or intimidation for commenting against him he deserves to worry.
Hard.

[DeminPennswoods]

64. Reportedly a germophobe

Don't know if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that he's a germophobe.

[Calista241]

66. He probably doesn't want to answer questions on his businesses

At least until his lawyers prep his sorry ass on what to say in January.