Since coming into his second term, Trump has, without any sense of modesty or rationale, placed his name on a number of government buildings and initiatives. Why am I not surprised! In my blog entitled Donald Trump and Extreme Narcissism in February 2016, I highlighted the fact that Trump has been described by numerous analysts as being an “extreme narcissist”. I noted at the time that: “Basically, narcissism is recognized in psychologists/psychiatrists circles as a mental illness, often referred to as “narcissistic personality disorder”. People with narcissistic personality disorder are characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance. They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behaviour. They also have a strong need for admiration, are manipulative, but lack feelings of empathy.”
Well, Trump has certainly lived up to this description given his current mental state of mind and behaviour. Moreover, it is of no surprise that he has a quest to name things after himself and to accept awards of nebulous merit, some often invented such as the FIFA Peace Prize and the just announced inaugural ‘America First Award’ from the Republican Party. The list of renaming of federal buildings in Trump’s name continues to go on. One can start with the performing arts complex, the Kennedy Center, to which Trump’s name was added in December of last year. Next, the Trump administration renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself and, following a protracted struggle for control of the institute, put his name on its headquarters. This organisation, almost gotten rid of by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was renamed the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace apparently to “reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history”. Around the same time, Trump announced the navy’s plans to develop the “Trump-class battleships” which are designed to meet the realities of modern maritime conflict. In January, Trump rolled-out the government-supported investment “Trump Accounts” for American babies, calling on American businesses to contribute to employees’ family accounts. Just today, the U.S. Treasury announced plans to put the president’s signature on all new dollar bills. The move would be a first for a sitting president given that U.S. paper currency traditionally carries the signatures of the treasury secretary and the treasurer.
What does Trump’s obsession mean for the workings of the presidency, governance, the republic and the fundamental values ingrained in the American democracy? Historically, self-aggrandizement has been in the domain of monarchs, dictators and autocrats for obvious reasons, having a lot to do with control of the populace and unrestrained power. The American constitution was designed to prevent a president from pursuing the enhancement of the office’s power and image at the expense of the people’s house: “Congress”. This past January, a CNN poll asked about Trump making changes to cultural institutions such as the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. Fully 62% of Americans said he had “gone too far” on this count. Even 3 in 10 Republicans reportedly said the president was going too far with those cultural changes. Politically, this self-glorification has not gone well with the American electorate. Trump’s continuous pursuit for more personal tributes and praise has only added to the public’s growing discontent with his administration.
Through blatant narcissistic tendencies, the above noted poll also showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans now belief that Trump is mostly out for himself. However, even though the emperor wears no closes as depicted in a fable, there have been few in Congress and elsewhere, including Republicans, that have courageously come forward to speak out in the republic’s defence. Also, Trump’s quest to name things after himself seems especially ill-timed and inappropriate given the current state of the U.S. economy. One can only speculate as to which institutions and government initiatives the president will want to proceed needlessly with name association. Given that he is an extreme narcissist, I doubt that the buck stops in the Oval Office.
FROLITICKS 