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Trump ‘Is Much Stranger Than Any Diagnostic Category’: Psychology Professor Says He Is Not ‘Like Other Dictators’
President Donald Trump’s unique personality and mental habits make it hard for mental health professionals to categorize him.
The American Psychiatric Association pushes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Currently, in its fifth edition, the book is known as DSM-5.
Dan P. McAdams, a psychology professor at Northwestern University, was interviewed by Dinesh Sharma, Ph.D. for Psychology Today.
“Without putting the president on the couch, are you willing to say he has a ‘personality disorder’ as in the DSM classifications?” Sharma asked.
“I do not find the clinical categories of the DSM all that useful in explaining how a person has come to be and in making sense of a person’s life, including President Trump. He is much stranger than any diagnostic category can convey, in my opinion,” McAdams replied.
“There is no diagnostic label that captures his unique blend of attributes and orientations,” he explained. “Among the most interesting features of Trump’s inimitable personality are (1) his peculiar form of extraversion-based charisma, (2) his startling lack of an animating life narrative in his own mind to make sense of who he is and how he came to be, and (3) his belief, shared unconsciously by a percentage of his supporters, that he is not ‘a person’ – he is more than a person, like a superhero, like a primal or mythic force, but less than a person, too, in that he is not held morally accountable in the same way that other persons are. I am not speaking metaphorically.”
McAdams explained how Trump views each day.
“He wakes up every morning ready to do battle with his enemies, and he wins by developing tactics that are unprecedented and completely audacious. He did this in the real estate industry in the 1980s, and he does it today. Because he has no story for his life in his own head, Mr. Trump approaches each day as a new episode, with a new battle to win,” he said. “All that matters is winning the episode. The episodes do not build from one to the next. There is no narrative flow to Donald Trump’s life, at least not in his own head.”
“This is why he is able to lie with such shameless abandon, and why he is unpredictable from one moment to the next. All tactics, no strategy,” McAdams explained. “Each day is a different battle, ending in victory or defeat. The days do not add up. This is not a long-term war with a cumulative plot. It is, instead, a series of one-off skirmishes, one after the other, day after day after day. This is how he has always lived. And now we are living it with him.”
“Do you think the president reflects the times we are in globally, in which dictatorial strongmen are able to get people’s votes in a populist wave? We see this in the EU, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. So might he be a reflection of the times where globalization has failed people significantly?” Sharma asked.
“Yes, I believe this is probably true. But President Trump is still a one-off. He is not fully like other dictators, either. And I am not sure he can be replicated,” he replied.
McAdams is the author of the forthcoming book The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning.
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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is accusing Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying during his Senate testimony this week, and warning that the HHS chief’s efforts to destroy faith in the measles vaccine will lead to children dying.
“It’s not a small thing that Trump’s Cabinet thinks Congress and the American people are so dumb that they can tell brazen lies over and over. We can’t normalize this,” Senator Murphy urged.
“The way in which Trump and Trump’s cabinet lie through their teeth, unapologetically and brazenly, to Congress and the American people, is outrageous,” Murphy said in video (below) he posted online Friday. “And I really worry that we risk normalizing it by not calling it out when it happens.”
He called the exchange he had with RFK Jr. “maddening” and “heartbreaking,” and said the HHS Secretary “essentially says that he’s no longer recommending that families get the measles vaccine. That’s going to kill hundreds, if not thousands of kids in this country.”
Murphy then played a clip from Kennedy’s testimony (which NCRM covered earlier this week), and, he said, caught Kennedy in a lie.
RELATED: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing
“By the way,” Kennedy told Murphy, “I said at the [House] hearing this morning that I was recommending the measles vaccine,” and told him to “look at the transcript.”
“So guess what I did?” Murphy says. “I went and checked the House transcript. It’s hours of testimony. I and my staff watched all of it, and guess what? Nowhere, nowhere in that transcript does he say he recommends the measles vaccine.”
“He lied through his teeth, and he did it because all of these MAGA sycophants have gotten used to lying. Donald Trump does it all the time, so they think they can do it as well. But we can’t normalize this because you can’t run a country if your leaders are lying to you every single day,” the Connecticut Democrat warned.
“RFK Jr. doesn’t support the measles vaccine, and he shouldn’t pretend that he does. He undermines the vaccine on a daily basis and whether we like his conspiracy theory positions or not, he should just be honest with the American people. They should all be honest with the American people, and none of us should normalize or get used to this amount of lying.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
So I hope you watch and share this video about the lies RFK Jr. told this week before the House and Senate. It’s a not a small thing that Trump’s Cabinet thinks Congress and the American people are so dumb that they can tell brazen lies over and over. We can’t normalize this. pic.twitter.com/W9dJJQtm6A
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 16, 2025
READ MORE: ‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
President Donald Trump is attacking the FBI Director he fired, Jim Comey, who is reportedly under investigation over a photo of sea shells formed into the numbers 8647. Top Trump law enforcement and intelligence officials claim it is a call for the assassination of the 47th President, although “86” is generally understood to mean “reject” or “eject,” and, since the 1930s, in restaurant parlance, has meant a menu item is unavailable.
“He knew exactly what that meant,” President Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview that will air Friday evening. “A child knows what that meant.”
“If you’re the FBI Director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination.’ And it says it loud and clear,” Trump alleged.
READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples
“Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant, and he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard because people like me, and they like what’s happening with our country. Our country’s become respected again,” the President claimed. “And he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
Baier interjected, saying: “Obviously, he apologized and said he —”
“Well, he apologized because he was hit,” Trump also claimed. “Look, he’s a very bad —”
When asked what he wants to see happen to the former Director of the FBI, Trump said he did not want to weigh in, and would let his Attorney General handle it.
“I don’t want to take a position on it because that’s gonna be up to Pam [Bondi] and all of the great people, but I will say this. I think it’s a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that, if he had a clean history, he doesn’t.”
“He’s a dirty cop. He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I’m going to let them make that decision.”
READ MORE: ‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
Trump Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox News on Thursday night she thinks Comey should go to prison for posting the “8647” photo.
Asked, “Do you believe Comey should be in jail?” Gabbard replied, “I do.”
“Any other person with the position of influence that he has,” she added, “people who take very seriously what what a guy of his stature, his experience, and what the propaganda media has built him up to be?”
“I’m very concerned for the president’s life. We’ve already seen assassination attempts,” she continued. “I’m very concerned for his life, and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”
But others commenting via social media were quick to point to a number of “86” posts apparently made by right wing influencers and even a former member of Congress, as well as T-shirts for sale during the Biden years.
Will @MarshaBlackburn ask for @amazon to be investigated for selling “8646” shirts and merch?
Or is it only worthy of FBI investigations when it’s “8647”?
We’ll hang up and listen. pic.twitter.com/yHoLSVinM0
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) May 16, 2025
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump on Comey: “He knew exactly what that meant … it meant assassination. It says it loud and clear … he’s calling for the assassination of the president … it’s gonna be up to Pam … he’s a dirty cop.” pic.twitter.com/fCkHnoXFjF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 16, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
Image via Reuters
During a rally-style appearance before uniformed U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday, President Donald Trump—serving as their Commander-in-Chief—floated the idea of a “fourth” term and falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election he lost. The appearance drew swift criticism for blurring the line between military service and political theater.
“As you know, we won three elections, okay?” Trump told the largely silent troops (video below). “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know—I’ll have to think about that.”
“You saw the new, the new hat. The hottest hat is, it says, ‘Trump 2028: We’re driving the left crazy.'”
“When you see that. We didn’t need that hat, but, uh, it was it’s been an amazing period of time,” he concluded.
READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
Noting that Trump was speaking “at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East,” CNN reported that the President “thanked the U.S. troops for political support.”
“There’s – nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody,” Trump said. “So, I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much.”
CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta, who has reported extensively on the military, wrote: “If this was a rally, the president’s remarks would be fine. But in front of service members who are expected to be apolitical, many Defense Department officials would find these remarks inappropriate.”
READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
The Bulwark’s Sam Stein observed: “Treating the troops like they’re at a campaign rally and sowing doubt about the past and future of American elections — all in one soundbite.”
Democratic pollster and strategist Luke Martin called it “especially jarring to see Trump flirting with blowing a hole in the Constitution in front of an entire crowd of people who literally swore an oath to protect it with their life.”
Independent journalist Mike Rothschild noted: “Making a statement like this in front of active duty troops would have generated months of scandal, hearings, and resignations in years gone by. Now it’s just another Thursday with the Mad King.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump speaking with the troops in Qatar: “As you know we won three elections. And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that. You saw the new hat?… It says Trump 2028.” pic.twitter.com/82mmClpFKe
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 15, 2025
READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples
Image via Reuters
‘Lied Through His Teeth’: Senator Warns RFK Jr. Undermining Vaccine Will ‘Kill’ Kids
‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
News3 days ago‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
News3 days ago‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
News3 days ago‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
News2 days ago‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
News2 days ago‘Lied Through His Teeth’: Senator Warns RFK Jr. Undermining Vaccine Will ‘Kill’ Kids