Thread: Donny MONga and the MondEbenderS, is he the Man Chewrian Candy date?

Trump and the Cult Leader Profile - by Dave Anderson

It is along but interesting read, even his own family slam him,if you want a digest its a freudian slop.

Slum landlord named fart with e euro rentals...................

This Substack has considered a number of questions surrounding Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement: Is it an insult to Trump voters, to say that MAGA is a cult? Does it matter if MAGA is a personality cult? Can eight themes of Chinese communist brainwashing tell us something about Trump’s movement? If you haven’t yet read these, the answers were No, Yes and Yes!
In this article, let’s look at one useful profile of a cult leader to help understand how Trump may fit this behavioral pattern. Janja Lalich’s book, Take Your Life Back: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, outlines 15 cult leader characteristics based on checklists developed by researchers Cleckey & Hare, leaders in the study of psychopaths. Note that Lalich’s book, now in its third edition, was originally co-authored in 1994 with Madeleine Landau Tobias, meaning that these characteristics weren’t written specifically to fit Trump, no matter how similar they may seem at times.

Lalich uses the terms “sociopath” and “cult leader” interchangeably, and uses the pronoun “he” to acknowledge that most cult leaders are men (Lalich, p. 17). She adds these caveats:

We are not suggesting that all cult leaders are sociopaths, but rather that some exhibit many sociopathic behavioral characteristics. Nor are we proposing that you use this checklist to make a diagnosis. Instead, we offer this checklist as a tool to help you identify and demystify traits you may have noticed in your leader…

We have excerpted some of the characteristics for clarity and brevity. For a full reading of these traits, read Take Your Life Back. Excerpts are used by permission of The Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion.

Let’s begin…
1. Glibness and Superficial Charm

Glibness is a hallmark of sociopaths. They tend to use language effortlessly to beguile, confuse, and convince. They are captivating storytellers. They exude self-confidence and can spin a web that intrigues others and pulls them into the sociopath's life. Most of all, they are persuasive. Frequently they have the capacity to destroy their detractors verbally or disarm them emotionally.

Author and reporter Maggie Haberman describes the 1980’s US national media learning what New York media already knew about Donald Trump: “…there was something magnetic about Trump. It wasn’t simply that his instinct for colorful drama made for good copy. He was mesmerizing to watch, his speech was fast and cocky and self-assured, with the ability to be both funny and cutting, both charming and derisive, often in the same sentence.” Haberman, p. 92.
Stephanie Grisham recalls being charmed as a campaign staffer in her initial face-to-face meeting with Trump, as she exited a restroom that the presidential candidate needed to use: “Then, with a spark in his eye and a kind smile, he said, ‘Look, I’m not too proud to use this bathroom even if it is a ladies’ room. It can be our secret’ …my perception of him that day was that he made an awkward moment bearable” (Grisham, p. 14). Later, Grisham would join the White House staff (2017-21), ultimately holding key roles including press secretary, and saying, “My early impressions were positive. Trump could be funny and charming when he wanted to be…” (Grisham, p. 189).
More examples of Trump’s persuasion and use of language:

• During Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, his rally speeches often extended to well over an hour.
• Trump uses words and short phrases repeatedly, sometimes giving the phrases a special in-group meaning such as “fake news,” while creating disparaging, memorable nicknames for his political and legal opponents (see Loading the Language).

2. Manipulative and Conning

Sociopaths do not recognize the individuality or rights of others, which makes any and all self-serving behaviors permissible. This type of person is adept at the “psychopathic maneuver,” identified by psychiatrist Ethel Person as interpersonal manipulation “based on charm. The manipulator appears to be helpful, charming, even ingratiating, or seductive, but is covertly hostile, domineering.... [The victim] is perceived as an aggressor, competitor, or merely as an instrument to be used....” In other words, there are no checks on a sociopath's behavior—anything goes.
The sociopath divides the world into suckers, sinners, and himself.…

Maggie Haberman writes about the contrast between “the ‘Good’ Trump” and “‘Bad’ Trump” evident to people who met him in the White House, saying “He is charismatic and can be charming, and in those initial encounters, he would ask people questions about themselves, zeroing in on them, giving them the sense that they were the only person in the room.
“But even those who rationalized staying close to him acknowledged that a ‘Bad’ Trump always revealed himself… He was interested primarily in money, dominance, power, bullying and himself” (Haberman, p. 3).
Some examples of Donald Trump appearing to manipulate or con people:

• Trump’s businesses have been involved in thousands of lawsuits, many of them for non-payment of invoices, according to a newspaper investigation.
• Trump settled a class action suit with students who said they were duped by Trump University’s promises to teach them the secrets of the real estate industry.
• The Trump Foundation was ordered to shut down in 2018 for instances of misusing the charitable organization to promote Trump’s political and business interests.
• Another article from early in Trump’s political career talked about the difference between a typical politician and a con artist, and how Trump could end up being the latter.

3. Grandiose Sense of Self

The sociopathic cult leader enjoys tremendous feelings of entitlement. He believes everything is owed to him as a right. Preoccupied with his own fantasies, he must always be the center of attention. He presents himself as the Ultimate One: enlightened, a vehicle of God, a genius, the leader of humankind, and sometimes even the most humble of humble. He has an insatiable need for adulation and attendance. His grandiosity may also be a defense against inner emptiness, depression, and feelings of insignificance.

Stephanie Grisham described the moment during Donald Trump’s first presidential transition, when Mitt Romney publicly interviewed for a job as Trump’s Secretary of State at a New York Restaurant.
“Everyone was stressed and annoyed and hot and miserable. Well, almost everyone… The president-elect loved it all… He was basking in his glory, the center of attention, center of politics, center of the world” (Grisham, p. 21).
Grisham realized that Romney was invited to dinner just to demonstrate Trump’s dominance before rejecting Romney, and came to feel that this was “cruel” and “wrong.”

Years later, Trump asked then-press secretary Grisham to release a quote criticizing former chief of staff Gen. John Kelly:
“He proceeded to dictate a quote to me… He finally decided that I should say, ‘I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great president.’
“….It wasn’t lost on me how weird it was for someone to call himself a ‘genius,’ as Trump did on more than one occasion (‘a very stable genius’)” (Ibid, pp. 238-239).

Paranoia often accompanies the grandiosity, reinforcing the sequestering of the group and the need for protection against a perceived hostile environment. In this way, he creates an us-versus-them mentality.

Examples of Trump paranoia:

• Trump has proclaimed that “the Deep State” was out to interfere with his presidential administration.
• Trump has claimed that investigations, impeachments and indictments of him were all part of a “witch hunt” to harm him.

4. Pathological Lying

Sociopaths lie coolly and easily, even when it is apparent that they are being untruthful. It is almost impossible for them to be consistently truthful about either a major or minor issue. They lie for no apparent reason, even when it would seem easier and safer to tell the truth….

Donald Trump is truth-challenged. The Washington Post counted ” than him on myriad subjects. He has asserted that all world leaders fear and respect him, and that he could have prevented world events from happening if he was president at the time, including recent Ukraine and Middle Eastern wars.
After the press learned that Trump had pressured Ukraine’s president Zelensky to investigate political opponent Joe Biden (which would lead to Trump’s first impeachment), he pushed staff to release a transcript of the call. Stephanie Grisham said Trump wanted it “sent out immediately because he had done nothing wrong. It was around that time that he convinced himself he had made a ‘perfect phone call.’ I was so used to watching him spin whatever he wanted to be true into reality that it didn't catch me off guard at all. He was always innocent of every accusation, always unfairly targeted, unfairly treated” (Grisham, p. 226).

These manipulators are rarely original thinkers. Plagiarists and thieves, they seldom credit the true originators of their ideas. They are extremely convincing, forceful in the expression of their views, and talented at passing lie detector tests. For them, objective truth does not exist—truth is whatever will help them achieve their needs….

Interestingly, Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” first appeared as part of for his own campaign launch twenty-five years before Trump announced his 2016 campaign using the MAGA slogan.

5. Lack of Remorse, Shame, and Guilt

At the core of the sociopath is a deep-seated rage, which is split off (i.e., psychologically separated from the rest of the self) and repressed. Some researchers theorize that this is caused by feeling abandoned in infancy or early childhood. Whatever the emotional or psychological source, sociopaths see those around them as objects, targets, or opportunities, not as people. They do not have friends; sociopaths have victims and accomplices—and the latter frequently end up as victims. For sociopaths, the ends always justify the means, and there is no place for feelings of remorse, shame, or guilt. Sociopathic cult leaders feel justified in all their actions because they consider themselves the ultimate moral arbiter. Nothing gets in their way.

Donald Trump’s niece Mary claims that his mother’s health problems, starting when he was two, created a void in Trump’s life. She writes that the situation was worsened by his father being a “high functioning sociopath,” negatively impacting Donald’s emotional and psychological development (M. Trump, pp. 21-28).
When fining Trump’s real estate company $350+ million for fraud, a New York judge declared that Trump's and his allies’ “complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological…”
6. Shallow Emotions

….Hiding behind the “mask of sanity," the sociopathic cult leader exposes feelings only insofar as they serve an ulterior motive. He can witness or order acts of utter brutality without experiencing a shred of emotion. He casts himself in a role of total control, which he plays to the hilt. What is most promised in cults -peace, joy, enlightenment, love, and security—are goals that are forever out of the leader's reach, and thus also the followers. Because the leader is not genuine, neither are his promises.

Donald Trump became famous to many Americans on NBC’s reality TV show The Apprentice as a man firmly in charge, who told contestants they were fired at the climax of each weekly episode. Although it’s difficult to know what feelings a public figure experiences, Trump may have a limited emotional range:

• A writer for Psychology Today writes that .”

7. Incapacity for Love

Although he may refer to himself, for example, as the "living embodiment of God's love," the leader is tragically flawed because he is unable to give or receive love. Love substitutes are given instead….

Donald Trump has used the word love in peculiar ways:

• Trump has described January 6th, the day some of his followers attacked the US Capitol, as a “day of love.”
• A fundraising message from Trump’s 2024 campaign exclaimed, “You really do love me!” and told potential supporters that he “loved” them

Trump’s niece says that because of the dysfunction in his family of origin, Trump didn’t receive loving comfort while growing up:
“…his ego is a fragile thing that must be bolstered every moment because he knows deep down that he is nothing of what he claims to be. He knows he has never been loved” (M. Trump, p. 198).

The leader's tremendous need to be loved is accompanied by an equally strong disbelief in the love offered by his followers, which results in often unspeakably cruel and harsh testing of his devotees. Unconditional surrender is an absolute requirement….

Grisham describes several loyalty tests she saw in the White House, including Trump asking his first press secretary to lie about inaugural crowd sizes without evidence:
“Forcing Sean [Spicer] to claim that the inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama's, which I imagine Sean also knew was bullshit, was a test. Trump always wanted to see how far you would go to do his bidding; it was his way of measuring your loyalty” (Grisham, p. 33).

8. Need for Stimulation

Thrill-seeking behaviors, often skirting the letter or spirit of the law, are common among sociopaths….

Donald Trump’s court battles have shown his attempts to dance around the law:

• After bringing hundreds of classified documents to Florida following his first term in office, and being subpoenaed by the Justice Department to return missing documents, Trump ordered many of them moved so that they would not be found during a government search, as alleged in a federal indictment with 37 felony counts.
• Trump repeatedly violated a gag order meant to protect judges, prosecutors, court staff and witnesses from harm and intimidation, resulting in fines.

Cult leaders live on the edge, constantly testing the beliefs of their followers, often with increasingly bizarre behaviors, punishments, and lies. Stimulation can also be had through unexpected, seemingly spontaneous outbursts, which typically take the form of verbal abuse and sometimes physical punishment. The sociopath has a cool indifference to things around him, yet his icy coldness can quickly turn into rages vented on those around him.

Stephanie Grisham writes about the Trump mood shifts she witnessed when she started to work in the West Wing of Trump’s White House:
“I also saw another side of the president... His mood could change on a dime, and his anger was swift, loud, jarring, vicious, and not always just… I was not prepared for the way he spoke to or yelled at people, which I know sounds crazy when you consider his Twitter account or even his interviews with the press. But when I began to see how his temper wasn't just for shock value or the cameras, I began to regret my decision to go to the West Wing” (Grisham, p. 195).
9. Callousness and Lack of Empathy

Sociopaths readily take advantage of others, expressing utter contempt for the feelings of others. Someone in distress is not important to them. Although intelligent, perceptive, and quite good at sizing people up, they make no real connections with others. They use their "people skills" to exploit, abuse, and wield power. Sociopathic cult leaders are unable to empathize with the pain of their victims.

Donald Trump’s lack of empathy seems apparent to many:
White House staffer Stephanie Grisham writes that “Trump’s fits of rage were swift, usually brief, but very intense. He had a capacity to find people’s weak spot, their vulnerability, and then turn it on them in an incredibly mean, savage and often effective way” (Grisham, p. 199).
After the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked in their home by a right-wing conspiracist with a hammer, fracturing his skull among other injuries; Trump later their home security.
Mary Trump wrote about her uncle’s lack of concern for the suffering of Americans as the Covid pandemic endured, saying “the press started to comment on Donald’s lack of empathy for those who have died and the families they leave behind. The simple fact is that Donald is fundamentally incapable of acknowledging the suffering of others….Perhaps most crucially, for Donald there is no value in empathy, no tangible upside in caring for other people” (M. Trump, pp. 209-210).

Cult victims engage in denial about this callousness because it’s so difficult to believe that someone they love so much could intentionally hurt them. It therefore becomes easier to rationalize the leader’s behavior as necessary for the general or individual good. The alternative for the devotee would be to face the sudden and overwhelming awareness of being victimized, deceived, and used. Such a realization would wound the person’s deepest sense of self, so as a means of self-protection, the person denies the abuse. When and if the devotee becomes aware of the exploitation, sometimes it feels as though a tremendous evil has been done.

Grisham writes about staffers’ denial of Trump’s flaws while working on his campaign – and her eventual realization that she thought he was abusive:
“We had an imperfect leader at the top, and none of us wanted to see how imperfect he actually was... So we tied ourselves even more tightly to Trump and looked away. As I look back, it felt like a classic abuse relationship…” (Grisham, p. 8).
10. Poor Behavioral Controls and Impulsive Nature

Like small children, many sociopaths have difficulty regulating their emotions. Adults who have temper tantrums are frightening to be around. Rage and abuse, alternating with token expressions of love and approval, produce an addictive cycle for both abuser and abused (and a sense of hopelessness in the latter). This dynamic has also been recognized in relation to domestic abuse and the battering of women.

Stephanie Grisham describes the see-saw of approval and rage she saw coming from Trump in the White House:
“When he liked you, when he was pleased with you, he overwhelmed you with charm and generosity and even affection. And when something set him off or someone else did, he'd start screaming. His temper was terrifying. And it could be directed at anyone, whether he or she deserved it or not” (Grisham, p. 8).

The sociopathic cult leader acts out with some regularity-often privately, sometimes publicly—usually to the embarrassment and dismay of his followers and other observers. He may act out sexually, aggressively, or criminally, frequently with rage. Who could possibly control someone with no sense of personal boundaries or responsibility, who believes he is all powerful, omniscient, and entitled to every wish or whim? Generally, such aberrant behavior is a well-kept secret, known only to a few trusted disciples. The others see only perfection….

Former Trump Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (2019-2020) recalls Trump raging at senior leaders over Black Lives Matter demonstrations in cities:
“Trump became angrier and was now on his feet, yelling that no one was helping him, that ‘we look weak,’ and ‘the country looks weak.’
“‘You are losers!’ the president railed. ‘You are all fucking losers!’ This wasn't the first time I had heard him use this language, but not with this much anger, and never directed at people in a room with him, let alone toward [Attorney General William] Barr, [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark] Milley, and me. He repeated the foul insults again, this time directing his venom at the vice president as well, who sat quietly, stone faced, in the chair at the far end of the semicircle closest to the Rose Garden….
“The president sat back down, still fuming, and turned to General Milley and asked why our soldiers couldn't shoot the protesters. ‘Can't you just shoot them. Just shoot them in the legs or something’” (Esper, p. 339).
Grisham relates a similar Trump rant over his desire to have a reporter removed from the press room:
“He became irate, and it's hard to describe his wrath. It was terrifying for me, for one. ‘You are weak!’ he yelled. ‘You are a loser! You are useless!’ …I did remember his saying I was ‘the only PR person who wasn't around to do things for him,’ ‘no one ever sticks up for me,’ and ‘I don't have a fucking PR person who can deal with these nasty reporters’" (Grisham, pp. 200-201).
11. Early Behavior Problems and Juvenile Delinquency

Sociopaths frequently have a history of behavioral and academic difficulties. They often get by academically, taking advantage of other students and teachers. Encounters with juvenile authorities are frequent. Equally prevalent are difficulties in peer relationships, developing and keeping friends, self-control, and managing aberrant behaviors, such as stealing, arson, and cruelty to others.

Donald Trump displayed early disciplinary problems:

• Trump claimed in a book that he punched a teacher: "In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eye - I punched my music teacher because I didn't think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled.”
• Niece Mary Trump writes that Trump’s father put him in a military school because of discipline problems: “by 1959, Donald’s misbehavior – fighting, bullying, arguing with teachers – had gone too far. Kew-Forest [school] had reached its limits…. When one of [Donald’s father Fred’s] fellow board members at Kew-Forest recommended sending Donald to New York Military Academy as a way to rein him in, Fred went along with it” (M. Trump, p. 49).

12. Irresponsibility and Unreliability

Not concerned about the consequences of their behavior, sociopaths leave behind them the wreckage of other people's lives and dreams. They may be totally oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they inflict on others, which they regard as neither their problem nor their responsibility.

Donald Trump seems to show irresponsibility in matters affecting other people:

• Trump’s first public company to trade on his “DJT” initials, Trump Hotels and Casinos, reportedly cost investors millions while “the company greatly enriched Trump the businessman.”
• Several ex-Trump attorneys face legal consequences for their work for Trump, including Rudy Giuliani, who was disbarred, and Jenna Ellis, who was suspended from practicing law, both for their actions in disputing the 2020 election for Trump.
• 1.2 million Americans died of COVID, a half-million more than any other nation, after Trump called on Americans early in the pandemic to “Just stay calm. It will go away.”
• Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that at the White House, “Trump was actively resisting masks and mocking those who wore them. He was telling people the virus would simply ‘go away’” (Esper, p. 254). Eleven people tested positive for Covid after attending one White House event, including advisor Chris Christie who spent seven days in intensive care. Trump reportedly called Christie to make sure he wouldn’t be blamed for giving Christie the infection.

Sociopathic cult leaders rarely accept blame for their failures or mistakes. Scapegoating is common, and blame falls upon followers, those outside the group, a member's family, the government, Satan—anyone and everyone but themselves….

Trump staffer Stephanie Grisham wrote that “the Trump family was able to convince the world any problem was due to ‘everyone else’ and that they were never to blame… [long list of blamed staffers and officials omitted] it was always their fault, they were disloyal or seeking attention, profiting off the Trump name, incompetent, pathetic, or a loser” (Grisham, p. 53).
Grisham also predicted that she would be scapegoated for writing a book after five-plus years working for the Trumps:
“I will be called many names for writing this book. Traitor. Low-level staffer. Weak. Dishonest. Ineffective. A complete failure….

“I know all of this, because that is what we did to everyone else who decided to tell their truth or who stood up against things they thought were wrong” (Ibid., p. 2).
Note: See more examples of Trump’s blaming the people who oppose him in The Dispensing of Existence.
13. Promiscuous Sexual Behavior and Infidelity

Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, multiple relationships and marriages, rape, and sexual acting out of all sorts are behaviors frequently practiced by sociopathic cult leaders. Conversely there may be stringent sexual control of followers through such tactics as enforced celibacy, arranged marriages, forced breakups and divorces, removal of children from their parents, forced abortions, and mandated births. For sociopaths, sex is primarily a control and power issue….

Donald Trump’s promiscuous sexual behavior and infidelity have been widely discussed — sometimes by himself, before he was a political candidate:

• The Guardian published this timeline of unwanted Trump sexual advances or alleged sexual assault.
• A microphone for the TV show Access Hollywood captured Trump boasting about kissing, groping and attempting to have sex with women who were not his wife.
• A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.
• Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to conceal a “hush-money” payment made to Stormy Daniels. The case also included testimony about payments to Karen McDougal, another woman with whom Trump allegedly had an affair during his 3rd marriage.
• Note: there are no active lawsuits against Trump for child sexual abuse.

While Trump’s political movement does not control the sex lives of its supporters, he did appoint three pro-life judges who aided the US Supreme Court in overturning Roe vs. Wade. This five-decade-old decision of the Court had federally protected women’s access to abortion for unwanted pregnancies.
14 Lack of Realistic Life Plan and Parasitic Lifestyle

The sociopathic cult leader tends to move around a lot, making countless efforts at starting over while seeking fertile new ground to exploit. One day he may appear as a rock musician, the next as a messiah; one day a door-to-door salesman, the next as founder of a self- rejuvenation program; one day a college professor, the next as the new Lenin bringing revolution to America.

Donald Trump began his career in New York City real estate, before expanding into New Jersey Casinos, an airline, and many other ventures including politics:

• While Trump says from The Apprentice following his disparaging comments about Mexicans at the launch of his first presidential campaign; Trump has denied being fired.
• Trump entered into politics after fanning a “birther” controversy that alleged then-President Barack Obama was not a US citizen. Trump twice has been elected President of the United States.

Maggie Haberman writes about Trump’s talent for self-reinvention:
“Trump had spent decades surviving one professional near-death experience after another, and after a lifetime of bluffing and charming and cajoling and strong-arming his way through challenging situations, he saw no need to change after winning the White House in 2016….He was unrivaled in his ability to reinvent himself just when he approached the brink of personal disaster, often owing to his own behavior” (Haberman, pp. 4-5).

The flip side of this erratic lifestyle is the all-encompassing promise for the future that the cult leader makes to his followers. Many groups claim as their goal world domination or salvation at the time of the Apocalypse. The leader is the first to proclaim the utopian nature of the group, which generally is a justification for irrational behavior and stringent controls. Often the leader's sense of entitlement is demonstrated by the contrast between his luxurious lifestyle and the impoverishment of his followers….

Trump promises his followers that with their support, he will “make America great again” (see Sacred Science: Thought Reform in Trump’s MAGA). Trump proclaimed he would solve America’s problems at 2016 Republican National Committee address, saying “only I can fix it.” His 2024 campaign again promised broadly, “Trump will fix it.”
Famous for his luxurious lifestyle, there is great disparity between Trump’s wealth and the finances of many of his supporters:

• Trump’s estimated net worth reaches over $5 billion, yet he has asked donors of all sizes to support his campaigns. One 2024 campaign message asked for a $15 donation but then defaulted donors into giving weekly donations (note: some Trump fundraising messages do ask recipients not to donate if they can’t afford it; Democrats may also use weekly upsells).

• Forbes reports that Trump in 2024 donated no money to his own re-election campaign, while his businesses received millions from the campaign for use of the Trump plane, Mar-a-Lago resort and Trump National Golf Club, and that $60 million was paid from Trump’s leadership PAC to cover legal fees.

15. Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility

Cult leaders change their image and that of the group as needed to avoid prosecution and litigation, to increase income, and to recruit a range of members. Cult leaders have an innate ability to attract followers who have the skills and connections that the leaders lack. The longevity of the group is dependent on the willingness of the leadership to adapt as needed to preserve the group. Frequently, when illegal or immoral activities are exposed to the public, cult leaders will relocate, sometimes taking all or some of their followers with them. They will keep a low profile, only to resurface later with a new name, a new front group, and perhaps a new twist on their story.

Donald Trump continues to attract influential new supporters such as Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who supported his 2024 campaign, and in return are expected to receive powerful roles in Trump’s government.
Tump may not need to relocate to avoid punishment for crimes; he may achieve this simply by being re-elected. Sentencing for his convictions related to hush money payments has been indefinitely postponed. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked that federal charges against Trump related to possession of classified documents and 2020 election interference be dropped, citing the Justice Department’s stance that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.
References






Esper, Mark (2022). A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, William Morrow.
Grisham, Stephanie (2021). I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I saw at the Trump White House, Harper.
Haberman, Maggie (2022). Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Penguin Press.
Lalich, Janja (2023). Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, 3rd Edition, The Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion.
Trump, Mary (2020). Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, Simon & Schuster.
Related reading:







Take Your Life Back: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich (includes relevant information about cult leaders including authoritarian power dynamics, the role of charisma, an overview of narcissism and traumatic narcissism).

Unfit for Office by George Conway (an Atlantic subscription may be needed)

The Cult of Trump by Steven Hassan (see Chapter Three: “The Cult Leader Profile”)

Thought Reform in Trump’s MAGA (on this site)