# Post ts_111976838348064823

- Post ID: `ts_111976838348064823`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2024-02-22T19:42:36.231Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_111976838348064823
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_111976838348064823/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_111976838348064823.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> They could get a far more talented person, who would also get better Ratings, for 5% of what they are paying this Loser! https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/jimmy-kimmel-hints-retiring-talk-show-final-contract/story?id=107444261

## Engagement

- Likes: 8,517
- Reposts: 2,168
- Replies: 855
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.369Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-21T04:18:30.517Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

A brief, characteristically Trumpian devaluation of Jimmy Kimmel prompted by a news article about the host's contract/retirement. The post monetizes contempt — reducing Kimmel to a cost-benefit failure ("5% of what they are paying this Loser") — consistent with Trump's stable schema equating worth with ratings and compensation. Authorship is mixed: business-hours posting and hyperlink sourcing suggest aide facilitation, but the single-sentence voice and capitalization patterns are authentic. The post's psychological interest lies in its timing: arriving simultaneously with significant legal pressure (the $355M Engoron fraud penalty being enforced) and electoral activity (South Carolina primary days away), the Kimmel attack reads as displaced aggression — lateral dominance assertion toward a culturally available target when direct acknowledgment of legal threat would require admitting vulnerability. The prior day's celebration of Laura Ingraham's "HIGHEST RATINGS" and this post's ratings-based contempt for Kimmel form a coherent rhetorical binary: loyal allies are elevated through performance metrics; enemies are demolished by the same currency. No cognitive deviation from baseline, no danger indicators, no gaslighting. This is routine narcissistic maintenance — low intensity, low clinical significance.

# Analysis: Trump on Jimmy Kimmel (Feb 22, 2024)

## Overview

A brief, punching attack on late-night host Jimmy Kimmel prompted by an ABC News article about Kimmel hinting at retirement after his current contract. The post is compact, monetarily-framed, and employs Trump's signature devaluation pattern. It is a low-stakes, routine celebrity attack, but it arrives within a dense psychological context: simultaneous legal crises (the $355M Engoron fraud penalty enforced), a contentious primary, and ongoing reputation management efforts — making the lateral aggression toward a media figure revealing.

## Authorship Attribution

UTC 19:42 converts to **2:42 PM EST** (Trump was almost certainly in Florida — South Carolina primary was Feb 24, suggesting he was either at Mar-a-Lago or on the campaign trail, both EST-adjacent). Business hours posting, correct grammar and punctuation, and inclusion of an external hyperlink all suggest **aide facilitation** — likely Scavino surfacing the story. However, the capitalized "Ratings" and "Loser," the contemptuous dismissiveness, and the monetary framing ("5% of what they are paying") are unmistakably idiomatic Trump. The most likely scenario: aide found/flagged the article, Trump dictated or lightly drafted the one-sentence commentary. **Mixed authorship** — aide-sourced trigger, authentic voice.

## Psychological State and Triggers

The immediate trigger is Kimmel's reported contract/retirement news. For Trump, this represents an *opportunity* rather than an injury — a media figure he dislikes is perceived as weakening, inviting a dominance display. The timing is notable: the $355M fraud ruling and enforced payment (Engoron denying delay) were landing simultaneously. The Kimmel attack, lateral and low-cost, may function as **displaced aggression** — punching at a safer target when direct response to legal losses would require acknowledgment of vulnerability.

The framing is quintessentially Trumpian: worth = ratings + salary. People are commodities; Kimmel fails both metrics in Trump's schema. This is consistent with his **agency motive dominance** — power and status expressed through comparative financial/performative hierarchy.

## Defense Mechanisms

- **Devaluation (immature)**: Reducing Kimmel to monetary worthlessness ("5% of what they are paying this Loser"). Classic narcissistic defense, severing any possibility of admiration for the target.
- **Displacement (neurotic)**: Aggression likely generated by legal and electoral pressures redirected at a culturally safer target.
- **Distortion (pathological)**: The claim that a superior substitute exists for "5% of the cost" reshapes reality to confirm Trump's worldview of an entertainment industry populated by over-rewarded mediocrities.

## Narrative Identity (Level 3)

The post implicitly casts Trump as the **arbiter of talent and value** — the dealmaker who sees through inflated valuations. The contrasting other is Kimmel: overpaid, undertalented, a "Loser." The protagonist role is **expert evaluator/kingmaker**, consistent with Trump's long-standing self-narrative as the ultimate judge of quality (The Apprentice, Miss Universe, etc.). This is a redemption-adjacent frame: the corrupt entertainment establishment overpays for mediocrity, but the discerning observer (Trump) sees clearly.

## Rhetorical Techniques

- **Hyperbole**: "far more talented," "5% of what they are paying" — both unfalsifiable and designed to maximize the insult
- **Ad hominem**: "this Loser" — capitalized for emphasis, targeting person not work
- **Dehumanization-adjacent**: reducing Kimmel to a line-item cost-benefit analysis strips personhood
- **Implicit authority claim**: the structure assumes Trump has standing to evaluate late-night talent markets
- **Ratings as moral currency**: consistent with prior-day Ingraham post ("HIGHEST RATINGS in the history of her very successful show") — ratings are simultaneously merit and virtue in Trump's rhetorical framework

## Longitudinal Pattern

The day-prior post celebrating Laura Ingraham's "HIGHEST RATINGS" and tonight's Kimmel devaluation form a **paired rhetorical unit**: allies get ratings praise, enemies get ratings contempt. This is a well-documented Trump binary. The pattern is stable and consistent with his baseline.

## Cognitive Assessment

Sentence is syntactically simple but coherent. Capitalization pattern (Ratings, Loser) is baseline-consistent. No word-finding errors, no tangentiality, no temporal confusion. **No deviation from established cognitive baseline.**

## Danger Assessment

**None.** This is a routine celebrity disparagement with no mobilizing language, no dehumanizing escalation, and no implied call to action.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "ABC News article exists about Kimmel hinting at retirement after final contract" | **Unverifiable** | The URL is specific and plausible; Kimmel has publicly discussed his contract situation in this period, but precise article content cannot be confirmed from training data alone. |
| "A more talented late-night host could be hired for 5% of Kimmel's salary and achieve better ratings" | **Unverifiable** | Pure rhetorical hyperbole — no factual basis offered. Late-night hosts of Kimmel's reach command significant market compensation; the 5% figure is not grounded in any cited data. |

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Authorship Analysis

**Uncertain** (score: 60%)

### Indicators

- Characteristic capitalization of 'Ratings' and 'Loser'
- Contemptuous one-sentence punching style
- Monetary devaluation framing is idiomatic Trump
- 2:42 PM EST posting time suggests aide involvement in surfacing article
- External hyperlink consistent with aide-facilitated sourcing

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Supply Seeking — Comparison (Jimmy Kimmel / ABC News retirement story)

Sentiment: -0.70

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 65%
- Antisocial: 20%
- Paranoid: 10%
- Sadism: 30%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- devaluation (immature)
- displacement (neurotic)
- distortion (pathological)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 30%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Positioning self as insider arbiter of talent and value
- Inviting audience to share contempt for shared cultural target
- Ratings as communal value metric binding in-group

## Fact Checks (2)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-21._

> ABC News article exists about Kimmel hinting at retirement after final contract

**UNVERIFIABLE**

The URL is specific and plausible; Kimmel has publicly discussed his contract situation in this period, but precise article content cannot be confirmed from training data alone.

Sources: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/jimmy-kimmel-hints-retiring-talk-show-final-contract/story?id=107444261

> A more talented late-night host could be hired for 5% of Kimmel's salary and achieve better ratings

**UNVERIFIABLE**

Pure rhetorical hyperbole — no factual basis offered. Late-night hosts of Kimmel's reach command significant market compensation; the 5% figure is not grounded in any cited data.

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Tags

- celebrity-attack (90%)
- devaluation (85%)
- ratings-obsession (80%)
- displacement (65%)
- grandiose-state (60%)
- monetary-framing (75%)
- aide-assisted (55%)
- jimmy-kimmel (90%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**Fraud Judgment Shadows Campaign Blitz as Suppressed Legal Wound Erupts in Final-Hour Rage**

Trump spent the day publicly focused on the South Carolina primary and attacking Nikki Haley, while absorbing one of the most significant legal blows of his career — Judge Engoron's fraud penalty enforcement. The afternoon saw a concentrated burst of posting that started with campaign attacks and favorable poll-sharing but gradually intensified. The day ended with an angry eruption against Attorney General Letitia James, labeling her a "Communist" destroying New York — the only moment where the legal wound broke fully through the grandiose surface. The gap between what happened to him and what he chose to talk about was the day's most telling feature.

Full digest for 2024-02-22: https://trump.fm/date/2024-02-22/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2024, February 22). They could get a far more talented person, who... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_111976838348064823
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "They could get a far more talented person, who would also..." Truth Social, 22 Feb. 2024. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_111976838348064823. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "They could get a far more talented person, who would also...," Truth Social, February 22, 2024, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_111976838348064823.

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