For Trump, It’s About America’s Ego — And His Own

For Trump, It’s About America’s Ego — And His Own

In this May 24, 2007, file photo, Donald Trump is profiled against his 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower during a news conference on construction progress in Chicago.

In this May 24, 2007, file photo, Donald Trump is profiled against his 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower during a news conference on construction progress in Chicago. (Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast / AP)

By Nancy Benac

July 13, 2016

Excerpts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was angry: A reporter had the gall to suggest that ego was behind his purchase of New York’s famed Plaza Hotel.

When he thought about it, though, he decided it was true — and admitted as much in a big, big way.

“Almost every deal I have ever done has been at least partly for my ego,” the billionaire declared in a 1995 New York Times piece titled, “What My Ego Wants, My Ego Gets.

Flash forward two decades, and what 70-year-old Donald John Trump wants is the presidency. To understand why, consider the billionaire’s ego not just as mere mortals might see it (an outsized allotment of conceit) but also as Trump himself understands it (an extraordinary drive for excitement, glamour and style that produces extraordinary success.) …

The race for the White House, then, may be Trump’s ultimate ego trip, guided by the same instincts he’s relied on in a lifetime of audacious self-promotion, ambition and risk-taking. …

Trump’s candidacy has given rise to a whole nation of armchair analysts with their own theories to explain the man: He’s a bully. He’s a champion. He’s insecure. He’s a rebel. He’s a narcissist. He’s an optimist. He’s calculating. He’s unscripted. He lacks self-awareness. He’s brimming with insight. He’s a pathological liar. He sees a larger truth. …

Aubrey Immelman, a political psychologist at Saint John’s University in Minnesota who has developed a personality index to assess presidential candidates, puts Trump’s level of narcissism in the “exploitative” range, surpassing any presidential nominee’s score in the past two decades.

“His personality is his best friend, but it’s also his worst enemy,” says Immelman. …

[City University of New York political psychologist Stanley] Renshon adds: “The traits that got him to where he has gotten are not necessarily the only traits he’s going to need to get across the finish line.”

Read the full report at the Associated Press