# Post ts_110198695736500195 - Post ID: `ts_110198695736500195` - Platform: Truth Social - Posted: 2023-04-14T18:57:33.250Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_110198695736500195.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > Page 1: David McIntosh is the failed leader of the Club for NO Growth, who was losing Election after Election, until he teamed with me, and we won every single Race. Then I dropped him, because he wanted to support Candidates I could not support. Now he’s supporting his worst choice of all, Social Security-cutting Ron DeSanctimonious, who is dropping like a rock in the Polls—The Club for NO Growth is beside themselves! ## Engagement - Likes: 12,640 - Reposts: 3,414 - Replies: 174 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.414Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-20T04:12:06.862Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._ ## Summary Post is a structured three-part coordinated attack on the Club for Growth and Ron DeSantis, published on a high-pressure day (NY civil fraud deposition, NRA speech travel). Content is clinically notable primarily for its textbook enactment of narcissistic king-maker dynamics: McIntosh's prior success is attributed entirely to Trump's patronage; his current alignment with DeSantis is framed as betrayal triggering withdrawal of favor and consequent decline. The self-schema — 'I am the causal agent of all outcomes' — is the most consistent organizing principle across Trump's Truth Social corpus and represents stable, ego-syntonic narcissistic adaptation rather than acute dysfunction. Defense mechanisms are predominantly immature (devaluation, splitting, self-idealization) with some neurotic rationalization. Affect is controlled and performative rather than raw; the three-part post structure suggests light aide scaffolding around authentic Trump content. No cognitive markers of concern; no danger indicators. The post is significant longitudinally as early primary-positioning aggression against DeSantis at a moment of institutional coalition-building by a rival — Trump's response is to reframe rival momentum as ingratitude rather than legitimate competition, which is his characteristic adaptation to status threat. # Psychological Analysis: Truth Social Post, April 14, 2023 (Page 1 — Club for Growth / McIntosh) ## Contextual Frame This post is the first panel of a three-part coordinated attack on the Club for Growth and Ron DeSantis, published on the same day Trump sat for a seven-hour civil fraud deposition in New York (subsequently traveling to Indianapolis for an NRA address). The posting environment is unusually high-stakes: simultaneous legal exposure and early primary positioning against an emerging rival. The three-part structure suggests deliberate campaign communication scaffolding, though the content register is authentically Trumpian. --- ## Level 1: Dispositional Traits (Big Five) | Trait | Signal | Assessment | |---|---|---| | **Extraversion** | Dominant, assertive, performing for crowd | Very high (0.82) | | **Agreeableness** | Zero cooperative framing; pure attack | Very low (0.10) | | **Conscientiousness** | Structured three-part post, sequential argument | Moderate (0.45) | | **Neuroticism** | Controlled aggression; not raw affect | Moderate-high (0.62) | | **Openness** | Rigid loyalty schema; no ambiguity tolerated | Low (0.18) | **Dominant facet:** Angry hostility (Neuroticism N2) expressed through dominance assertion (Extraversion E1). The combination produces the characteristic Trump attack mode: cold rather than hot rage, structured rather than scattered. --- ## Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations **Dominant motive: Power/Agency.** The entire post is an exercise in demonstrating that Trump is the causal agent of political outcomes. McIntosh's success was *granted* by Trump; McIntosh's current failure is *caused* by Trump's withdrawal. This is not a factual account — it is a power schema being performed publicly. **Secondary motive: Status restoration.** With DeSantis emerging as a credible rival and the Club for Growth (a significant conservative donor network) endorsing him, Trump faces an institutional status threat. This post reframes that threat as a subordinate's ingratitude rather than a legitimate competitive challenge. **Self schema:** "I am the source. Others succeed because of me and fail when I withdraw." This is the most consistent self-schema across Trump's Truth Social output and represents a stable, ego-syntonic narcissistic adaptation. **Other schema:** Others (McIntosh, DeSantis, Club for Growth) are either extensions of Trump's power or enemies. No neutral parties exist in this framing. --- ## Level 3: Narrative Identity **Protagonist role:** King-maker and legitimate authority. Trump does not cast himself as a fighter here (contrast with posts about legal cases); he casts himself as the granter of political viability. **Narrative sequence:** Contamination-then-justice. McIntosh received Trump's favor (good) → betrayed that trust (contamination) → is now failing (justice/restoration). DeSantis is embedded in the same contamination logic: an unworthy pretender associated with punitive Social Security policy. **Identity claims:** - "I am the one who makes winners" - "I enforce loyalty standards because I have principles" - "I am not Paul Ryan" (explicit identity via negation in Page 2) **Contrasting other:** McIntosh as the ungrateful recipient; DeSantis as the sanctimonious opportunist; Club for Growth as institutional globalist betrayers. --- ## Level 4: Clinical Indicators ### Malignant Narcissism Assessment **A. Narcissistic features (HIGH — 0.87):** The king-maker narrative is grandiosity operationalized. "We won every single Race" is almost certainly a factual exaggeration (Club for Growth had notable losses in 2022 cycle), but more psychologically significant is the structure: all success is attributed to Trump, all failure attributed to departure from Trump. This is narcissistic rewriting of causal history. **B. Antisocial features (LOW-MODERATE — 0.35):** The post engages in deceitfulness (overstated win record) but stops short of the callousness toward individuals' rights seen in more extreme posts. The target here is institutional (Club for Growth) and political (DeSantis). **C. Paranoid features (MODERATE — 0.48):** "Statement of Disinformation" (Page 2) and the WSJ/Murdoch framing (Page 3) reveal a conspiratorial reading of organized opposition. The pattern of seeing coordinated attacks from media, political, and donor establishment is consistent with the persecutory schema visible throughout Trump's Truth Social corpus. **D. Ego-syntonic sadism (LOW-MODERATE — 0.42):** The visible pleasure in "The Club for NO Growth is beside themselves!" — the exclamation mark performing delight in their distress — is a mild expression of ego-syntonic sadism. Suffering of enemies is experienced and displayed as reward. --- ## Defense Mechanisms 1. **Devaluation** (immature): McIntosh is "failed," his organization renamed to connote failure, DeSantis is "dropping like a rock." 2. **Splitting** (immature): The world divides cleanly into those who were loyal to Trump (and thrived) and those who weren't (and are failing). 3. **Rationalization** (neurotic): The break with McIntosh is narrated as principled ("wanted to support Candidates I could not support") rather than retaliatory — a post-hoc logical construction for an emotionally-driven act. 4. **Idealization of self** (immature): Presenting himself as the essential variable in all political outcomes. --- ## Authorship Attribution **Score: 0.88 (strongly authentic Trump)** Post time converts to approximately 14:57 EDT (Trump was traveling Indianapolis-bound on this date). Business hours weakly suggest aide involvement in formatting/structure — the three-part breakdown is more organized than raw Trump posts. However, the lexical fingerprints are unmistakable: the "Club for NO Growth" rebrand (a recurring Trump coinage), "DeSanctimonious" (Trump's own nickname, deployed consistently), the credit-claiming syntax, and the king-maker narrative template. Most likely: Trump authored the core content; aide may have segmented it into a three-part format for readability. --- ## Cognitive Status No markers of concern in this post. Vocabulary is appropriate, idioms correctly deployed ("dropping like a rock," "beside themselves"), temporal sequencing is coherent, and logical flow — while propagandistic — is internally consistent. This represents baseline Trump political attack output. No deviation from established pattern. --- ## Rhetorical Analysis The post deploys Trump's most reliable rhetorical template against intra-party rivals: 1. **Establish prior dependency** on Trump's favor 2. **Document betrayal** of that favor 3. **Retroactively justify** the break as principled 4. **Report declining fortunes** as natural consequence The "Club for NO Growth" nickname is particularly effective as a long-term rhetorical weapon: by embedding the negative directly into the organization's own name, every reference becomes an attack. The three-part post structure suggests a coordinated communication strategy, with Page 1 establishing the personal grievance narrative, Page 2 handling the policy substance (Social Security), and Page 3 targeting the media amplifiers (WSJ/Murdoch). This is more structured than typical reactive Trump output — notable given the same day's deposition stress. --- ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "McIntosh was losing Election after Election before teaming with Trump" | **Mostly True** | Club for Growth had a mixed record in Senate primaries pre-Trump; their endorsement record showed significant losses in key races | | "We won every single Race together" | **Mostly False** | Trump-endorsed and Club for Growth-backed candidates had notable losses, including in the 2022 midterm cycle; 'every single' is a demonstrable exaggeration | | "DeSantis is dropping like a rock in the Polls" | **Half True** | DeSantis polling had declined from a peak in late 2022/early 2023 but he remained Trump's closest primary rival in April 2023; 'dropping like a rock' overstates the trajectory | Overall Veracity: 50% ## Danger Assessment **Level: None.** This is standard intra-party political attack rhetoric. No eliminationist language, no dehumanization, no stochastic terrorism pattern. The hostility is political and reputational, not physical. --- ## Archetypal Analysis **Primary archetype: King dispensing and withdrawing favor.** The post is structurally a royal court drama: the king granted patronage, the vassal was ungrateful, favor was withdrawn, the vassal now suffers. This maps onto a deep political archetype (the patron/client relationship) that resonates beyond rational argument. **Secondary archetype: Trickster** via nickname deployment — "Club for NO Growth," "DeSanctimonious" disrupt the opponents' self-presentation with ridicule. The Trickster names things in ways that destabilize their dignity. **Shadow projection:** The accusation that Club for Growth is "beside themselves" and chaotic projects onto them the destabilization Trump himself experiences from institutional rejection and a rising rival. --- ## Longitudinal Notes This post is part of a cluster of same-day posts showing Trump managing simultaneous stressors: legal exposure (NY deposition), political threat (DeSantis/Club for Growth), and institutional alienation (WSJ/Murdoch). The behavioral response — splitting attention across multiple attacks, structured three-part communication, controlled rather than raw affect — suggests a stress-management mode rather than acute decompensation. Compare to posts from periods of acute legal threat (indictment days) where affect regulation is visibly compromised. This is Trump functioning at a relatively organized level under chronic pressure. ## Authorship Analysis **Self-Written** (score: 88%) ### Indicators - Signature 'Club for NO Growth' rebrand — a recurring authentic Trump nickname - 'DeSanctimonious' — Trump's own coinage used consistently - Credit-claiming narrative ('teamed with me...won every single Race...then I dropped him') — first-person king-maker voice - Stream-of-consciousness escalation across three consecutive posts - Emotional, non-linear structure with em-dashes as connective tissue ## Psychological Profile ### State **Mixed State** **Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Comparison (Club for Growth endorsing DeSantis, perceived as institutional rejection and rival elevation) **Rage:** Intensity 65% targeting David McIntosh / Club for Growth / Ron DeSantis - Proportionality: 30% Sentiment: -0.62 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 87% - Antisocial: 35% - Paranoid: 48% - Sadism: 42% **Defense Mechanisms:** - devaluation (immature) - idealization (immature) - splitting (immature) - rationalization (neurotic) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 52% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Direct-address complaint to audience as implied jury for grievance - In-group signaling via shared enemy nicknames - Positioning audience as witnesses to his magnanimity and the ingratitude of subordinates ## Fact Checks (3) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-20._ > McIntosh was losing Election after Election before teaming with Trump **MOSTLY TRUE** Club for Growth had a mixed record in Senate primaries pre-Trump; their endorsement record showed significant losses in key races Sources: General political knowledge / Club for Growth electoral history > We won every single Race together **MOSTLY FALSE** Trump-endorsed and Club for Growth-backed candidates had notable losses, including in the 2022 midterm cycle; 'every single' is a demonstrable exaggeration Sources: 2022 midterm results / Club for Growth endorsement history > DeSantis is dropping like a rock in the Polls **HALF TRUE** DeSantis polling had declined from a peak in late 2022/early 2023 but he remained Trump's closest primary rival in April 2023; 'dropping like a rock' overstates the trajectory Sources: FiveThirtyEight / RealClearPolitics polling averages circa April 2023 Overall Veracity: 50% ## Tags - king-maker-narrative (92%) - devaluation (88%) - intra-party-attack (85%) - DeSantis-rivalry (90%) - Club-for-Growth (80%) - splitting (75%) - nickname-rhetoric (88%) - power-motive (91%) - authentic-trump-voice (88%) - stress-management-mode (70%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Deposition Day Fury: Legal Vulnerability Fuels Multi-Front Offensive Against Barr, DeSantis, and Conservative Defectors** Trump spent the day processing the aftershock of a grueling civil fraud deposition while traveling to Indianapolis for an NRA speech. The morning opened with attacks on Bill Barr and a defensive reframing of his AG encounter, then gave way to a rapid-fire afternoon barrage targeting the Club for Growth, Ron DeSantis, and Rupert Murdoch. The Fort Lauderdale flooding was weaponized against DeSantis without any expression of concern for affected residents. The day ended on a high note with a crowd-facing "THANK YOU" after the NRA address -- the adoration apparently restoring what the courtroom had threatened. Full digest for 2023-04-14: https://trump.fm/date/2023-04-14/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2023, April 14). Page 1: David McIntosh is the failed leader of... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Page 1: David McIntosh is the failed leader of the Club for..." Truth Social, 14 Apr. 2023. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Page 1: David McIntosh is the failed leader of the Club for...," Truth Social, April 14, 2023, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195. ## For agents - Site overview: https://trump.fm/llms.txt - API specification: https://trump.fm/openapi.json - MCP server: https://trump.fm/mcp (search and fetch tools, no auth) - This post as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/posts/ts_110198695736500195 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/ts_110198695736500195 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/ts_110198695736500195 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2023-04-14 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/ts_110198695736500195.md?analysis=false _Markdown view of a trump.fm page. Post, analysis, date, feed, contradictions, search and about pages answer in markdown at their URL with `.md` appended (`/index.md` for the home page), or when sent `Accept: text/markdown`._