# Post ts_115548824413984773

- Post ID: `ts_115548824413984773`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2025-11-14T15:45:38.152Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_115548824413984773
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_115548824413984773/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_115548824413984773.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, than they are now. In fact, costs under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY. Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB. Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last, under Crooked Joe! We are the Party of Affordability!

## Engagement

- Likes: 15,473
- Reposts: 3,993
- Replies: 3,402
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.290Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-22T06:00:52.641Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

This post is notable primarily for its **strategic deflection** and **reality distortion** during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history (Day 43). While Trump's other posts that day accuse Democrats of using Epstein to deflect from the shutdown, this post itself deflects from the shutdown by asserting economic triumph. The irony is structurally significant: the shutdown is causing real economic harm (FAA flight reductions, unpaid federal workers), yet Trump claims costs are "tumbling down." The specific claim of 25% lower Thanksgiving costs appears fabricated—no credible source supports such a dramatic year-over-year decline. The post demonstrates **pathological distortion** as a defense mechanism, reshaping economic reality to maintain grandiose self-image during political crisis. The branding move—"We are the Party of Affordability!"—represents an attempt to appropriate the opposition's messaging terrain, a characteristic competitive maneuver. The simultaneous gaslighting ("Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB") dismisses legitimate consumer concerns while claiming the very concept for his party. This pattern of asserting the opposite of observable reality during crisis is consistent with the malignant narcissism framework's intersection of narcissistic and antisocial features: reality is not a constraint but a tool.

## Psychological Analysis: "Cost, and INFLATION" Post (2025-11-14)

### Context
Posted during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history (Day 43), this post pivots away from the shutdown and Epstein controversies dominating Trump's other posts that day to make economic claims. The deflection itself is notable—the same day he accuses Democrats of using Epstein to "deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN," he deploys economic messaging to deflect from both.

### Authorship
Posted at 10:45 AM ET (Trump likely at Mar-a-Lago or DC). Business hours, relatively structured argument, but contains signature Trump markers: ALL CAPS emphasis, nicknames ("Sleepy Joe," "Crooked Joe"), and the combative framing. Hybrid—likely Trump dictating or heavily editing aide-drafted talking points.

### Psychological Dynamics
The post functions as **supply-seeking** and **reality distortion maintenance**. During a politically damaging shutdown, Trump reasserts economic dominance narratives. The claim "We are the Party of Affordability!" is aspirational branding rather than empirical claim.

### Defense Mechanisms
- **Distortion**: Reshaping economic reality during a shutdown that is itself causing economic disruption (FAA flight cancellations, unpaid workers)
- **Projection**: Calling Democratic affordability claims "a complete CON JOB" while making equally contestable claims
- **Splitting**: Biden era = all bad costs; Trump era = "tumbling down"

### Rhetorical Analysis
Classic propaganda structure: assert favorable claim → dismiss counter-evidence as fraud → claim the opposing brand identity ("Party of Affordability"). The Thanksgiving cost claim is specific enough to fact-check and likely cherry-picked or false.

### Cognitive Notes
Coherent, on-message. No significant cognitive markers. The parenthetical structure "helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY" shows adequate causal reasoning, though the logic is simplistic.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last" | **Mostly False** | No credible source supports a 25% year-over-year decline in Thanksgiving meal costs. The American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey typically shows single-digit percentage changes. A 25% decline would be historically unprecedented. |
| "Costs under the Trump Administration are tumbling down" | **Half True** | Gasoline and energy prices may have declined, but overall consumer prices remain elevated and the government shutdown itself is causing economic disruption including FAA flight cancellations. |
| "Cost and inflation were far higher under Biden than now" | **Half True** | Inflation rates peaked under Biden in 2022, but cumulative price levels remain elevated. The rate of inflation may be lower but costs themselves have not reversed. |

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Authorship Analysis

**Uncertain** (score: 60%)

### Indicators

- ALL CAPS emphasis on key words
- Nicknames (Sleepy Joe, Crooked Joe)
- Business hours posting ~10:45 AM ET
- Relatively structured argument with clear thesis
- Exclamation mark ending

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Preemptive Attack — Criticism (Government shutdown political damage, Democratic criticism on affordability)

Sentiment: +0.40

**Mildly Hypomanic**
- Grandiose economic claims disconnected from shutdown reality
- Exclamatory branding statements

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 60%
- Antisocial: 30%
- Paranoid: 20%
- Sadism: 10%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- distortion (pathological)
- projection (immature)
- splitting (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 40%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Claiming group identity ('We are the Party of Affordability')
- Thanksgiving reference creating shared cultural moment

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- Dismissing legitimate affordability concerns as 'a complete CON JOB'
- Claiming economic success during a record government shutdown
- Reframing opposition's factual claims as fraudulent

## Fact Checks (3)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-22._

> Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last

**MOSTLY FALSE**

No credible source supports a 25% year-over-year decline in Thanksgiving meal costs. The American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey typically shows single-digit percentage changes. A 25% decline would be historically unprecedented.

Sources: American Farm Bureau Federation annual Thanksgiving dinner survey

> Costs under the Trump Administration are tumbling down

**HALF TRUE**

Gasoline and energy prices may have declined, but overall consumer prices remain elevated and the government shutdown itself is causing economic disruption including FAA flight cancellations.

> Cost and inflation were far higher under Biden than now

**HALF TRUE**

Inflation rates peaked under Biden in 2022, but cumulative price levels remain elevated. The rate of inflation may be lower but costs themselves have not reversed.

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Tags

- economic_claims (90%)
- deflection (70%)
- brand_appropriation (60%)
- shutdown_context (80%)

## That day

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

**Epstein Defensiveness Escalates to Weaponized DOJ Directive as Shutdown Grinds On**

Trump spent his morning consumed by the Epstein topic, posting three times in under three hours with rising intensity -- from a branded four-word dismissal to an announcement directing the Attorney General and FBI to investigate named Democrats and private citizens. The afternoon shifted abruptly to routine business: judicial nominations, a nostalgia post about Sean Connery, and economic boasts including a dubious claim about Thanksgiving costs being 25% lower. The Epstein fixation stood out most -- four posts on the topic in 48 hours suggests it's hitting a real nerve, not just political messaging.

Full digest for 2025-11-14: https://trump.fm/date/2025-11-14/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2025, November 14). Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_115548824413984773
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the Sleepy Joe..." Truth Social, 14 Nov. 2025. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_115548824413984773. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the Sleepy Joe...," Truth Social, November 14, 2025, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_115548824413984773.

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