{"id":50,"date":"2025-10-24T07:04:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewayweseecom.ipage.com\/understanding\/?page_id=50"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:30:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:30:35","slug":"president-trumps-relationship-with-fear-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/understanddjt\/fear\/president-trumps-relationship-with-fear-2\/","title":{"rendered":"TRUMP’S FEARS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/span>
\nSome experts have argued that Trump\u2019s politics and rhetoric are calculated tactics designed to agitate and exploit Americans’ existing fears for his personal gain. Others argue that everything he says and does in life, business and politics are natural projections of his personal fears and anxieties. The truth is that both arguments are true because Mr. Trump, like all people, is a complex person.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of this post is not to debate whether Mr. Trump purposely used\/uses fear as a tool to get elected and\/or exploit his base for money, praise and votes. Rather, the purpose of this post is to demonstrate that Mr. Trump\u2019s psyche\u00a0(i.e. mind, personality) embodies personal fears and anxieties that strongly affect all his behaviors in life in complex ways. In that sense, he is just like all other people.<\/span><\/p>\n

This proposition is not exclusive to Mr. Trump. What makes these cause\/effect factors worth investigating is the fact that he is the President of the United States. Moreover, he is a president whose rhetoric, policies and behaviors cause worldwide uncertainty and chaos. In other words, understanding of Trump\u2019s fears and anxieties is not just a matter of politics or intellectual curiosity. In fact, what he does and does not do has become a matter of security (e.g. emotional, financial, physical, global, etc.) for all citizens of the world who are victims of his fears.<\/span><\/p>\n

What President Trump has Said About How He Uses Fear<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe degree to which fear motivates Trump\u2019s thinking and behaviors is clearly indicated in a quote he made during a conversation with journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa on March 31, 2016, at the Old Post Office Pavilion, Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. The context of this statement is Trump\u2019s philosophy on leadership and influence when said that instilling fear is, in his view, a fundamental source of real power.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrue power is \u2014 I hesitate to even say it \u2014 fear.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Without shame or caution, President Trump explained that instilling fear is, in his view, a fundamental source of real power. The quote encapsulates his belief that fear is an effective means to exert and maintain control over others. Some Americans saw evidence of that philosophy at work in Trump\u2019s first term as president. All Americans and, indeed the whole world, are now witnessing and experiencing the full force of that philosophy in his second term.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s hesitance to admit that \u201ctrue power is fear\u201d reveals an awareness of how controversial and ethically charged this view of power is. We can assume that he recognizes that openly associating power with fear may sound harsh, manipulative, or negative to the public and to leaders. And we must give him credit for his candor in making this admission.<\/span><\/p>\n

By stating, \u201cI hesitate to even say it,\u201d Trump signals that this isn\u2019t a comfortable truth, but rather an underlying dynamic that is difficult to confront and discuss openly, especially for someone in his position.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

When he overcomes his hesitation and explicitly admits it\u2014by saying the very thing he claims to be cautious about\u2014Trump demonstrates a willingness to acknowledge the realities of power as he sees them, no matter how uncomfortable or politically risky such an admission might be. This act can be interpreted in two ways:\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n