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.
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.
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.
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.
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 clearly put it:
Narcissists are frightened, fragile people. Rejection, humiliation, and even 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:
“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.”
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. Phillips’ Substack. Bluesky.
