Trump’s Pathological Relationship with Putin
Starting in December 2016 in CityWatchLA, we been explaining that Donald Trump is seriously mentally ill. He suffers from a combination of Histrionic Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder with paranoid features. (Trump does not have a Paranoid Personality Disorder) Paranoia pops up all over the psychological landscape but the generic definition is “systemic delusions of persecutions and/or grandiosity. “ Trump’s loss of the 2020 Presidential election pushed him over the edge into the delusion that he won the election despite his being America’s savior.
For a variety of reasons, virtually all Americans have ignored Trump mental problems no matter how obvious they may be. Classifying Trump as a “Histrionic and Narcissist with paranoid features” is straight forward since Trump publicly exhibits the diagnostic criteria virtually constantly. Other personality disorders, e.g., psychopathic (Anti-Social Personality Disorder (aka sociopaths and psychopaths) can be harder to diagnose without clinical interviews and psychological testing since psychopaths are clever at disguising their true nature. A psychopath would not openly exhibit so much nonsense, e.g., his alteration of the inaugural photograph to pretend his crowd was larger than Obama’s, or his using a black marker to falsity a weather map.
While it does take experience with the diagnostic features of personality disorders in order to recognize them in specific individuals, the first step is to learn what they are. The DSM-5 in the above hyperlinks spells them out. Few people are Histrionics, while Narcissists are quite prevalent.
Trump’s More Deeper and More Dangerous Psycho-dynamics
Despite the manifestations of Trump’s Histrionic and Narcissistic Disorders, they do not endanger the nation to the extent that indications of a more disturbing pathology. At this point, we approach op psychology. Our foundational facts come from Trump’s relatives, especially his cousins, brother and sister, Fred Trump III and Mary L Trump, who are children of Trump’s older brother Fred Trump, Jr. by their accounts, donald watched his father Fred Trump, drive Donald’s odler brother Fred Jr to alcohlism and an early grave at 42. Mary Trump has a PhD in clinical psychology.
According to Mary L. Trump, Donald’s father Fred Trump was sociopath similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. When Donald’s mother became ill, Fred Sr. became essentially a single parent to his three sons, Fred Jr., Donald, and Robert. Donald received no emotional support from his father during his formative years when he especially needed it due to his mother’s incapacity, but “‘Fred’s fundamental beliefs about how the world worked – in life, there can only be one winner and everybody else is a loser and kindness is weakness – were clear,’ says Dr Trump. ¶Fred wanted his children to be “tough at all costs”. He [Fred] believed apologizing was a sign of weakness. ¶ “For Donald and Robert, ‘needing’ [emotional bonding] with their father became equated with humiliation, despair and hopelessness.” Mary Trump’s Book
Trump constantly seeks Putin’s love and approval and he suffers from the delusion that Putin, like a good father, will reciprocate. Trump’s basic approach to Ukraine is that he will divide it up with Putin. Trump has the mineral wealth and Putin has Eastern Ukraine and together they will rule the country. Trump was socked and dumbfounded when Putin rejected this relationship, but as Donald never gave up seeking love and compassion from his father, he has not given up on his passion for Vladimir to be the accepting father which has eluded Trump his entire life. Even from the outside of the administration, one can see that even loyal aides like Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been valiantly trying to have Trump see Putin for a psychopath. Fred Sr., however, had the same personality, which is why Trump has so desperately latched onto Putin. Right up to Trump’s display of the military aircraft overhead to honor Putin, to rolling out the red carpet, and to his offering Putin a ride in the Beast, Trump was under the delusion that he had earned Putin’s love. He was certain his being the most power man in the world would result in his acceptance by Putin and the acceptance of Trump’s plan to share Ukraine with him. Putin’s total rejection of Trump during the 3 hour meeting must have been an emotional shock as horrible as Trump’s father’s abuse of his eldest son Fred. After Fred Jr. was driven to an early grave at age 42, Donald assume his brother status as elder son and heir.
We do not forget Trump’s Narcissistic Rage at Zelenskyy due to Zelenskyy’s refuals to interfere in the 2016 President elections as a significant factor in Trump’s anti-Ukrainism.
Factual Reality Is No Match for an Emotionally Rooted Delusion
Facts are impotent to dispel the emotional obsession. Putin detests Trump as he would with any other pontificating, draft dodger blow-hard; Putin relishes humiliating Trump. More likely than not, Trump will believe that rescuing his relationship with Putin will require his actually forcing Zelenskyy and the Europeans to accept Putin’s Alaskan demands. While much of the MAGA is in a Trump Cult based on deep psychological needs, Europeans and many of Trump’s advisers recognize that Trump is delusional. They also realize that Trump is wrecking the US European alliance since WW II, depriving America of all its allies. The European leaders are descending upon Washington this Monday, August 18, 2025, not only to save Ukraine but also to stop the disintegration of the Free World’s opposition to unbridled authoritarianism.
What Leverage Do Sane People Have Over Trump?
The rational MAGA advisors, who joined the Trump Administration based upon calculations on what they may gain, along with non-MAGA GOP leadership have the option to use the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution to declare Trump a mentally unfit loser and a danger to the Republic in order to replace him with JD Vance. They lack the cohones.
One complication is that they will have to outflank Nancy Pelosi, who has worked for decades to destroy the GOP party, and she will certainly not voluntarily cooperate with rescuing the GOP by removing Trump. Another complication is whether Vance would move to the far right and galvanize the true MAGA believers in order to counter-attack the rest of the GOP and support Trump to declare a national emergency and have Pete Hegseth call out the US military to put down the Congressional insurrection.
The future never goes as predicted just as history never repeats itself ain the way we might expect. Maybe the Alaskan meeting shocked Trump into reality, and maybe tooth fairy is real.