What happened to trump as a child that makes him such a piece of shit as an adult?

[gopiscrap]

This is a serious question...he seems socially and intellectually damaged to the point that he can't be able to tell the truth or have any empathy for anyone but himelf!!!

[elleng]

1. I have the same question.

Would at least be interesting to know something about relationship with his parents.

[leftynyc]

2. His father hated him

Was a dictatorial prick and donnie has had daddy issues his entire life.

[Atman]

34. THIS.

He's from a different era. My brother is also quite wealthy (not nearly on the Trumpsky level, even if Trumpsky is lying) and his wealth came from our dad...whom my brother HATED. They fought each other constantly...but he became rich because of their relationship. Now he is in a constant struggle of accepting that he was a "made man," or promoting the idea that he did it all by himself, and therefore is brilliant -- even though he flunked out of college and only became part of Dad's business because he was a failure and needed a job. I see many of the same traits in Trumpsky and my brother. The want to believe their business gods, but if not for Daddy they'd probably still be working at Burger King.

[leftynyc]

37. Exactly

You described donnie perfectly (when describing your brother). That's why the old man sent him to military school. It all goes back to Fred Trump.

[AJT]

54. How did you escape the same fate?

[Atman]

72. Sales.

Dad sold industrial water heaters. He had all of New England as his territory. Industrial water heaters are kind of like high-end real estate...you don't sell them every day, but when you do make a sale the commission is really good. Me? I'm an artist. I couldn't sell my way out of a paper bag. My brother is a natural born con man, just like Trumpsky. Dad knew it, and brought him into the biz after he flunked out of school and wasted $20k of his money. Dad didn't "help" me out because he always said he knew I'd succeed on my own talents. Dad was a very wise man. But my con-man brother was so bad that he even got my dad to sign over the entire business over to him just days before he died of cancer, doped up on morphine, cutting out the other siblings. Now that he has four houses, two on the beach in Maine, one on the beach in Delray Beach, and his "home' house in New Hampshire, he is very generous in welcoming us to come bask in his glory. Just like Trumpsky. Total narcissist who cannot imagine why everyone thinks he's a prick. And I am very happy, living well, having succeeded on my own merits.

[AJT]

74. Money can't buy happiness.......

but apparently it can buy the United States of America.

Being able to express yourself artistically is a wonderful thing, making a living by doing it is even better. I'm so glad you're happy.

[WiffenPoof]

67. Exactly

Trump has serious daddy issues. It is my opinion that he had spent his entire life trying to gain his father's acceptance. Thus... His profound insecurity.

[Bucky]

38. Fred Trump trained him not to respect anyone who isn't abusive. Which explains the Putin crush

He's so free form in his speeches, it's not hard to suss it out. From his "bash 'im" at rallies to his "There used to be a kind of toughness in American diplomacy" in his more formal speeches, he clearly grew up compensating for a fear of lacking power in his relationships.

By now it's a force of habit with him. He lives to dominate others. It's the only interaction he's ever known. But I don't think he's fragile. I think he'll cling to the job and hold out the full four years out of pure stubbornness. And the GOP will blame him instead of themselves for prepping the ground for such a horibble leader.

[leftynyc]

41. His father and his mentor

Roy Cohn - both these cretins taught donnie to NEVER apologize, explain or show weakness in ANY form EVER. I do think he's fragile in that he could be the most insecure person to ever inhabit the oval office.

[malaise]

39. True but didn't his mother pack him off and send him to a military high school

because of something he did

[leftynyc]

42. His mother had zero

influence. She was an ornament just like all of donnie's wives were. ALL the power was with Fred.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. Privilege and a father who was also a very bad, racist and greedy person.

I dont think he stood a chance.

BTW if you notice, he shows much more respect and attention to his son IN LAW than his own blood sons, why?

Is it because he intuitively knows his sons are like him, i.e. dumb and mean? I think so.

[RobinA]

70. Interesting Point

that I had not noticed. Could have to do with the sons, but it could have to do with Kushner's association with Ivanka, the clear favorite.

[Bettie]

4. Look at who his parents were

from all accounts, they were not particularly loving or hands-on people.

But I also suspect he simply doesn't have the capacity for empathy and emotion that most people feel.

So, nurture: he was taught that he is the center of the universe and that humans are there to serve him.

Nature: he has no empathy or capacity to see beyond his own wants.

[Doreen]

5. I suspect his father was abusive and he watched and listened to

how his father treated women. I also think some of the mental issues are just issues he was born with.

[gopiscrap]

16. maybe he was concieved by the devil and we just don't know it

[Doreen]

18. Well, Damion in the Omen was born into politics and was just as

evil. I have actually gone back in my mind to that movie.

[gopiscrap]

19. OMG that was what I was reffering to!

[Doreen]

20. And I thought I was the only one who thought of it on those terms.

[RobinA]

71. I Have To Think

that the spawn of the Devil would be way more crafty than Trump. In fact, if Trump is by the Devil, I'm a bit disappointed in the Devil.

[meow2u3]

77. You just might be onto something

Someone with zero redeeming qualities? Check.
A guy with a lust for power, blind revenge, and greed? Check.
No pets? Check. (even animals run from him)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. His father was a racist, hardass and a con.

Interestingly enough, Donald seemed to take to his father's view on life.

His brother Fred Trump Jr. seemed to reject his father's way of things, had no interest in following his footsteps and decided to become a pilot instead. As a result, the family more or less shunned Fred Jr. as a disappointment and he drank his way to an early death.

Donald himself reportedly mocked Fred Jr. He would later renege on a promise to provide money for his handicapped grandson. I seriously doubt Donald has any remorse for either of those things.

[JTFrog]

7. Affluenza.

He is just another privileged asshole. I imagine he has always paid to have people fawn over him and tell him how smart he is.

[Siwsan]

8. From what I've read, he pretty much just takes after his father

His old brother, Fred Jr., ended up drinking himself to death. This is from a NYT article. The whole article is a good read so the link is at the bottom of the snip:

But the painful case of Freddy Trump, eight years his brother’s senior and once the heir apparent to their father’s real estate empire, also serves as an example of the dangers of failing to conform in a family dominated by a driven, perfectionist patriarch and an aggressive younger brother.

In the upwardly mobile Trump family, Donald was the second and favorite son, the one who got into the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, relished the combat of New York real estate and ultimately made the Trump name an international brand. Freddy was the disappointment, who lacked the killer instinct and drifted so far from his father’s ambitions that his children were largely cut out of the patriarch’s will.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/us/politics/for-donald-trump-lessons-from-a-brothers-suffering.html

[backscatter712]

9. Fred Trump was such a bigoted bag of dicks that Woody Guthrie wrote a song about him...

[LunaSea]

28. Background

https://theconversation.com/woody-guthrie-old-man-trump-and-a-real-estate-empires-racist-foundations-53026

[ananda]

10. His father was a Nazi eugenicist.

So is 45.

[Jonny Appleseed]

11. True story

[Moostache]

12. Faulty assumption...Trump is NOT an adult in the first place...

He acts, talks, and pouts like a toddler.

His biggest problem? He needs a spanking and to go to bed without Twitter.

[JHB]

33. Yup. Can't call it a "second childhood" when he never...

...ended the first.

[LOL Lib]

13. The problem with Dump is that he survived birth.

Same for his father Fred.

[gopiscrap]

15. Agreed

[dalton99a]

26. No shit.

[JI7]

53. YUP

[Freethinker65]

14. $$$$ and the reality that he would never be accepted by the sophisticated New York elite

[LisaM]

17. I have asked that before too.

He clearly has father issues.

[pnwmom]

21. His own father treated him like he treats Barron and Melania -- as props in father's drama.

Not as real and loved human beings.

Barron has a chance only if Melania manages to protect him better than DT's mother protected him -- but all of those children were raised in that toxic soup.

[Doreen]

62. Actually I think that Tiffany is OK.

Her mother is not that great but you tend to be different when you have a father who wanted you aborted. He never talks about her and we only see her once in awhile. I actually think she is prettier than Ivanka and Melania ( just a side note. )

[pnwmom]

63. She probably is -- because she had the least to do with the toxic parent. n/t

[livetohike]

22. He was probably ignored, so he acted out to gain

attention and his parents got him out of the way by sending him to military prep school. Unwanted and unloved. He still is. He needs constant attention and approval. Notice how he usually comments on someone " I really like him." As if his approval was so important!

[stillcool]

76. I think so too.

Now he's an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.

[jberryhill]

23. He was born at a very early age

[tblue37]

43. Ah, born too young. nt

[jberryhill]

44. At one point, he held the title of "Youngest Person on Earth"

[erpowers]

24. Abusive Father

I have heard the Fred Trump was abusive to both Fred Jr. and Donald. It has been said that part of the reason Fred Jr. struggled with alcohol abuse was because of how badly Fred Sr. treated him. Also, Donald was raised around a number of people who encouraged him to think about himself first and to harshly counterattack anyone who attacked him.

[dalton99a]

25. "Perfect Genes"

[MFM008]

27. He was born period.

If there was ever a good case for abortion this is it.

[Johnny2X2X]

29. Socio-path

Trump is a pure socio-path. In his life there is not one instance that has been cited where he did a single selfless thing when it wasn't to curry favor or make himself look good.

Mark Cuban had a good analysis of him as a businessman, basically citing the lack of people Trump has mentored as proof that he isn't successful. Trump would never help those around him expecting little in return.

I honestly think Trump would see every man, woman, and child in this country be killed if it got him the slightest benefit in the long run. This guy doesn't care about a thing but his own giant ego. It makes me fearful of what he'll do when his Presidency is really in jeopardy in the coming months or years. I put nothing past a psychopath, he would nuke a city and sleep like a baby afterwards.

[Juliusseizure]

30. He was born a POS

Yeah there's the nature vs. nurture issue, but he had 2 brothers and 2 or 3 sisters with the same father who, by all public accounts, are not malignant narcissists. One's a former judge who actually wasn't disbarred or anything

They seem afraid of him and have just stayed out of the Donald's way. You'd think they would have showed up on a campaign stage at some point. I haven't seen them.

Maybe its his manipulation of old man Fred to cut the deceased brother's kids out of his will, or his attempts to get more money out of their combined daddy trust when he ran out of money.

Maybe he killed or sold their pet rabbits for fun when they were kids? Pushed them into traffic when they fought over who's candy it was.

It can't be easy living with a paranoid malignant narcissist as a sibling. That's why Fred put him in military school at age 12. To get rid of the menace. He didn't do that with any other kids.

[The River]

31. Looking at Birth Order

explains his basic behavior patterns.

http://doublebirthorder.blogspot.com/2011/04/donald-trump-most-unusual-double-birth.html

"His Siblings and birth orders

Maryanne 1937 #1
Freddy Jr. 1938 #2
4yrs
Elizabeth 1942 #3/0
4yrs
Donald 1946 #4/1
Robert 1948 #5/2

There are two types of Double birth orders in his family.
Elizabeth has an Only birth order along with her third number
of birth. Donald and Robert both have Double ordinal numbers,
of 4/1 and 5/2. Understanding Double birth orders is the
Rosetta Stone of birth order theory. Using this information
along with the ordinal or number of birth really makes the
theory work.

When we combine this two very different birth orders, you get a
child, the number Four and the adult, the number One. The
One birth order powers up and intensifies the child-like
qualities of the Fourth-born. The One has a quest for power
over others and the number Four wants to play. This person
can be “in your face” and will have a difficult time admitting
they are wrong. They love to hold power over others and like
a child they want all the attention."

[Juliusseizure]

35. Trump's astrology chart -Uranus problems

There's no scientific evidence for the birth order analysis, but as long as we're speculating, Trump's astrological chart also confirms some revealing planetary difficulties.

www.google.com/amp/www.nydailynews.com/amp/news/politics/donald-trump-turns-70-astrology-reveals-uranus-problem-article-1.2672667

[3catwoman3]

59. Uranus problems?!

How perfectly fitting -

[JustAnotherGen]

64. Fascinating

Just fascinating. Thanks

[brooklynite]

32. Clearly he had a troubled childhood...

He was sent off to the "US Military Academy", a secondary school long known for taking in "difficult children".

However, there was also an adult phase. His father was a successful real estate developer in Queens. Trump saw Manhattan as more "elite" and moved his business there, but could never get accepted by Manhattan society. That's what largely drove his "I'll show you" attitude

[Rhythm]

69. Trump attended 'New York Military Academy'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Military_Academy

The U.S. Military Academy is ~West Point~...

[Amaryllis]

36. Search Frontline to find the 2 hour segment on Trump and HIllary that aired shortly before the

election.. It's bio that starts with birth and goes thru childhood.

[synergie]

40. His sociopathy was not treated, they just shipped him off to boarding school.

[Juliusseizure]

46. It seems largely untreatable

It's a lifelong personality disorder which is extremely difficult to treat. There's more likelihood of success if treated very early.

They've found distinct brain structure
differences with psychopaths but not sociopaths (yet). The amygdala of psychopaths - which are the core of empathy - is 18% smaller and there's damage to the prefrontal and temporal lopes which regulate impulsivity, morals and ethics. That's why most psychopaths have had conduct disorders as children such as ADHD/ADD, OCD and CD. (etc.)

Interesting they haven't found brain abnormalities with sociopaths while its an acknowledged lifelong personality disorder.

Maybe we don't have a complete understanding of "normal" vs. "abnormal"
brain structure or the means to discern small differences? Its also on a spectrum, so maybe a lot more people with otherwise normal brains are on the lower end of the spectrum than statistics would show?

[synergie]

47. They could have at least *tried* something.

Is there an actual diagnostic difference between psychopathy and sociopathy. The household DSM has disappeared somewhere and the Kaplan and Saddock is hiding from me.

Do you happen to have the cite for the amgydala studies? The only ones I've seen reference to was the political ones (which have the amgydala larger in Conservatives). Doesn't the amygdala mediate fear response? How is it the seat of empathy?

We're learning more and more about brain structure, it's a fascinating frontier. We're getting there, but our sample subjects are obviously small.

[Juliusseizure]

48. Often denied in families

There is not a DSM diagnosis for psychopathy but there are distinctions as well as considerable overlap in both diagnoses.

Of course, one of the most well known amgydala studies is R.J.R. Blair's "The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: functional contributions and dysfunction in psychopathy."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606709/#!po=33.4586

The amgydala are involved in a variety of emotional processes.

Per numerous recent studies, Activation of the right amgydala has been associated with empathy.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/823406_5

[MrScorpio]

45. I've asked that question before

Does anyone know the answer?

[Sancho]

49. Genetics...

[applegrove]

50. He was mentored by Roy Cohn and hung out with Roger Stone

and gang as a younger man. They've given him an outlook, values and set of behaviours that will never satisfy Trump. He is as superficial as they are. His 'winning' strategy goes as deep as the bottom of the letter g at the end. He is not tethered to anything real policy wise. He does not care.

[lunasun]

51. I was going to mention his many years with vile Roy Cohn as an answer

[still_one]

52. I don't give a f**k what his environment was. Some people are just assholes. Trump

is an asshole

[kskiska]

55. A neighbor caught him throwing rocks

at her toddler in a playpen in her yard.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

58. What??????

Are you serious?

[kskiska]

82. Yes. It's true.

Post editor Marc Fisher revealed the not-so-startling revelations: “We learned as he once said, he hasn't changed since second grade. Keep that in mind as you hear about some of the things that he did, such as throwing rocks at a toddler in the yard right across from his own home, pulling the pigtails of one of his classmates.”

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2016/08/22/washpost-expose-young-trump-pulled-pigtails-threw-rocks

[erinlough]

56. I taught special children for 38 years and Trump could be a case study.

In the sixth grade he got into trouble with bullying in school. Sixth grade is usual for that kind of behavior in boys prone to it. His parents sent him away to military school. I think that is where his emotional development stopped. The rest of his life became a quest to please his father by being more successful, more brutal, more ruthless than the man who rejected him. I could be wrong, he always has reminded me of sixth grade bullies I've taught.

[CentralMass]

57. An article about his childhood.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/young-donald-trump-military-school/2016/06/22/f0b3b164-317c-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?utm_term=.28067fe588f9

[moondust]

60. Too much money.

Probably figured out at a young age that he'd never have to do anything he didn't want to do thanks to his father having a lot of money that would be his someday and allow him to buy whatever and whomever he wanted.

[laserhaas]

65. As if a spoiled rotten, narcissistic, rich brat

would be anything else...but a royal pain in the ass.

[GreenEyedLefty]

66. All you have to do is look at who and what he is now to see what he lacked as a child.

He was never taught kindness or any kind of empathy for others. He clearly lacks the ability to put himself into someone else's shoes, which is kind of important to being a decent person. He witnessed firsthand what happens when you dare to be different (his brother Fred) and I think he just fell into line.

His height and hair color were advantageous. He figured out that he could physically bully and intimidate people in addition to being a cold, calculating asshole. He likes being tall and very, very blond.

[WiffenPoof]

68. Trump Suffers From Profound...

Solypsism

[blogslut]

73. It's never one thing.

It's a combination of things.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. He is 70 years old and has had the resources and opportunities to recognize and correct his issues and has chosen not to do it.

Fuck him. I don't care how he got there anymore. He's horrible and he isn't going to change.

[forjusticethunders]

75. Being a privileged white male with a racist father

Is a recipe for a lack of empathy and understanding.

[Orsino]

78. Nothing happened, unfortunately.

He is still the child who was never told no.

[PJMcK]

79. Who cares?

He's a very dangerous, evil man.

[no_hypocrisy]

80. He was born a shit and just got bigger.

Anecdotes:

1. As a child, Trump was building something with blocks with his brother. Trump needed more blocks and asked his brother for some of his. He decided not to return the blocks by gluing together his blocks. I know, I know -- he lost his blocks too but his structure was now immortalized and his brother had nothing to play with.

2. At age 8, Trump admitted that he punched his music teacher in the stomach solely because he believed the teacher knew nothing about music.

3. Trump grew up in a very dysfunctional family. He wanted to be the oldest son, the heir, but his brother, Fred Jr. (Freddy) stood in the way. It would not surprise me that the back channel sabotaging of Freddy by Trump diminished the former's status to take over Fred Sr.'s business. That didn't stop Trump from using Freddy's association with Wharton Business School's admissions to transfer from Fordham in the Bronx.

4. By the time Trump met Roy Cohn, he finally met someone who thought like him. There was not much influence other than Trump learned to be more ruthless.

[Juliusseizure]

81. Abraham Lincoln had a crap father too

I'm just saying there's no single factor.

Lincoln's dad rejected him, physically abused him, used him for farm work until age 21. Lincoln didn't visit him before he died and did not attend his funeral.

Bill Clinton's stepfather was an abusive alcoholic.