The Disordered Soul and Presidency of Donald J. Trump: Platonic Reflections on 45

https://blog.apaonline.org/2017/10/10/philosophy-in-the-contemporary-world-the-disordered-soul-and-presidency-of-donald-j-trump/

If there is anything that Donald Trump has conclusively proved throughout his campaign and short presidency is that he is entirely ruled by desire. And Trump’s strongest desire, the desire which all his other desires serve, is his desire to be admired and envied by all—as the richest, smartest, most successful man in any room. One doesn’t have to engage in deep psychoanalysis to discern this. Trump constantly tells us how great he is, almost every day, in every other tweet and at almost every public appearance. He tells us this with his eponymous jets and towers, the excessive opulence of his residences, the fastidious intricacy of his comb over, and the beauty of the women he wears as accessories, testaments to his virility even at the age of 71.

But as Plato’s student Aristotle noted, the problem with thinking that such accolades will validate you is that they depend on other people conveying them unto you (Nicomachean Ethics, 1095b24). When you have to award yourself such honors you just appear ridiculous. When people have the temerity to point this out to Trump, or to criticize or contradict him in any way, his response is always fiercely indignant.