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WHY DOES A NARCISSIST ACCEPT HUMILIATION?  
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Phillips P. OBrien
February 5, 2026
Phillips’s Newsletter
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_ Epstein might be the answer. What makes the present situation so
extraordinary is that the Russians can exercise enormous influence
without Trump being a recruited agent, but through the pressure of the
possibility of kompromat existing. _

,

 

This week we witnessed three extraordinary events which when you put
them altogether show a very worrying pattern. Indeed linking the three
of them might be the only way that they all make sense together.

First, the President of the United States of America, a narcissist of
the highest order
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in charge of the most powerful country in the world, was publicly and
richly humiliated. Donald Trump, as readers know, was toyed with by
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, used to pass on fake news about the
Russians agreeing not to attack Ukrainian heating and power
generation. Having used Trump to spread the lie as far as they could,
the Russians then launched arguably their largest attack on exactly
the the kinds of Ukrainian heating and power generation target that
Trump said Putin had promised to spare
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In other words, the Russians used Trump, willingly or unwillingly, as
a patsy in the most public and flagrant manner.

Second, having been humiliated in the most extreme way, and with his
most devoted supporters now begging him to get tough with the Russians
(see Lindsey Graham
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the New York Post
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Trump turned around and defended Putin, the source of his humiliation.
Not even bothering to act upset, his normal behavior when Putin
humiliates him, Trump said that actually the Russian deadline for
halting such attacks had just ended! It was therefore ok for the
Russians to do exactly what he, the President of the USA, had said
that they would not do hours earlier. In an extraordinary turn of
phrase, Trump said that his humiliater, Putin, had “kept his word”
on the attacks
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Third, another batch of millions of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein
files were released and they made a very strong case that Epstein was
closely linked to elements in Russian intelligence. There were trips,
emails, and other assorted hints that Epstein was associated with and
even coordinated activities with members of the Russian intelligence
service. The evidence was strong enough that Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk, a man not prone to histrionics or overstatement, said
that the Poles were investigating
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whether Epstein had been a Russian agent. Tusk’s exact words in a
government meeting were
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_“There is increasing evidence and commentary in the global media
suggesting that this unprecedented scandal may have been co-organized
by Russian intelligence services.”_

In some ways it was like watching the pieces of a puzzle fall
progressively into place. The great mystery of Donald Trump’s
behavior has been why he, one of the most famous narcissists in world
history, reacts aggressively with extreme anger at any slight or
insult, except those given by Vladimir Putin. Ususally not supporting
or praising Trump makes the president lash out with bitterness. When
the Indian government refused to support Trump’s lie that he brought
peace between them and the Pakistanis, Trump went ballistic and
dramatically increased tariffs on Indian products in retaliation.
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On the other hand, when it comes to Russia, Trump accepts humiliation
after humiliation and still does whatever is in the best interests of
Vladimir Putin. In May, I put this piece together arguing that Trump
was acting exactly as a Russian agent of influence would be expected
to act. I have just taken it out of paywall for anyone to read.

 

IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA ACTING LIKE AN "AGENT OF INFLUENCE" FOR
PUTIN?
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Phillips P. OBrien
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·
May 28, 2025

[Is the President of the USA acting like an "Agent of Influence" for
Putin?]
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Phillips’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive
new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid
subscriber.

READ FULL STORY
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The piece revealed about how strange and dependent Trump seemed to be
on the Russians; how he constantly pushed their narrative and
interests, even when, remarkably, they turned around and humiliated
him time and again. I even used a recent example of a Russian
humiliation of Trump because it struck me as so extraordinary,
concluding with these lines:

_So, the Russians are certainly acting like Trump is enough of an
agent of influence on their behalf that they can publicly insult or
threaten him, and he will not take a concrete step against them._

I do think we need to ponder on the extraordinary way Trump accepts
Russian humiliations—as it stands out so remarkably from all of his
other dealings. For instance, Trump’s need for constant validation
and praise is so extreme that he publicly accepted the gift of Corinne
Machado’s Nobel Prize. As a narcissist, he could not understand that
it actually made him look ridiculous, and instead grinned like some
demented child when he showed off his new present.

[Donald Trump holds the Nobel peace prize medal in a large frame next
to María Corina Machado in the White House.]
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Now what actually scares a narcissist? Well it seems to be for people
to understand that behind all the grandiose bluster lies an ordinary
flawed, even fraudulent human being. In other words, it is the
prospect of shame/humiliation that keeps them always pressing ahead.
As this article in _Psychology Today_
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put it:

_NARCISSISTS ARE FRIGHTENED, FRAGILE PEOPLE. Rejection, __humiliation_
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the tiniest of defeats can shake them to their core._

Now, who would be able to humiliate Trump more than anyone else? The
answer to that question could be Jeffrey Epstein. Trump and Epstein
clearly associated for decades and shared a predilection for sex with
very young girls. As far back as 2002, Trump was boasting about this,
most famously in a _New York Magazine _profile in which he was quoted
as saying: [[link removed]]

_“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,…He’s a lot of
fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much
as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”_

Epstein himself seems more than aware of Trump’s particular tastes
for very young girls and in 2017 described Trump this way. “_I have
met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump,…Not one decent cell
in his body._
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In other words, if Epstein was collecting kompromat (compromising
material), Trump would loom as a very likely candidate for him to have
collected it on. Any narcissist would instinctively understand that
this kompromat would represent the greatest possible humiliation risk
in his or her life.

This would give Russian intelligence, if it did get such kompromat
from Epstein, the ability to hold it over any narcissist without
having to say a word. It would be an extremely powerful tool, always
operating in the background and would never even need to be used to
threaten a narcissist to get them to do what the Russians want. He or
she would do it automatically in a desperate need to protect against
humiliation.

Btw, even if not collected, just the possibility of such kompromat
existing would prey on the mind of any narcissist. Now I have no idea
if such kompromat exists, so cannot say. However the release of the
Epstein files makes it clear that he had connections with Russian
intelligence—and if he collected such kompromat, who knows where it
would have gone.

_Phillips P. O’Brien @phillipspobrien is Professor of Strategic
Studies, @univofstandrew. Writing about grand strategy, war, history,
Romanesque and Baroque buildings I love, Sicily, and pretty much
anything else that takes my fancy. __Phillips’ Newsletter._
[[link removed]]_ __Phillips’
Substack._
[[link removed]]_ __Bluesky._
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* Donald Trump
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* Vladimir Putin
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* Jeffrey Epstein
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* Epstein files
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*
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