# Post x_1046230634103025664

- Post ID: `x_1046230634103025664`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2018-09-30T02:49:55.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1046230634103025664
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1046230634103025664/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1046230634103025664.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh, and witnesses, only to certain people. Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion. Please correct your reporting!

## Engagement

- Likes: 159,356
- Reposts: 45,075
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.396Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-16T03:48:23.579Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Late-evening post (10:49 PM EDT; strong authentic authorship indicators) constitutes a public denial of documented White House constraints on the FBI's supplemental Kavanaugh investigation. The core mechanism is DARVO: NBC's accurate reporting is recast as professional failure while the documented constraint is inverted into its opposite ('interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion'). The parenthetical '(as usual)' efficiently pattern-codes NBC as a habitual liar, immunizing the audience against the specific claim without substantive engagement. The post is clinically notable not for emotional intensity — relatively subdued — but for clean deployment of denial as reality-management at the moment documented executive interference in a law enforcement investigation was becoming public. The atypically supplicatory 'Please correct your reporting!' suggests greater felt threat than surface affect conveys, consistent with a mixed narcissistic state in which grandiose virtue-performance masks underlying vulnerability. Fact-checking confirms NBC's report was accurate; Trump's characterization of it as 'incorrect' is itself the factual distortion. No cognitive deterioration indicators. No danger indicators. Textbook gaslighting deployed in service of narrative control during an acute political crisis.

## Psychological Analysis — Trump Twitter, 2018-09-30T02:49:55Z

---

### Authorship Attribution

**Timing:** UTC 02:49:55 on September 30 converts to **10:49 PM EDT** (UTC−4) on September 29, placing this squarely in late-evening hours consistent with authentic Trump posting. Trump had just returned from a West Virginia rally (confirmed by adjacent tweets "Heading to West Virginia now" and "Thank you West Virginia"), so he was likely in transit or recently back at a hotel/residence.

**Stylistic assessment:** The post contains several authentic-Trump markers — the parenthetical attack "(as usual)," the direct imperative "Please correct your reporting!," and the characteristic rhetorical pivot to self-presentation as the reasonable party. The middle sentence ("Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion") is slightly more formal than typical stream-of-consciousness Trump, suggesting possible light editing or dictation. On balance, **moderately high authenticity**: late-night timing, emotional-defensive register, characteristic parenthetical sneer, and direct media challenge are all signature. Moderate aide polish is possible but not determinative.

---

### Situational Context

The post responds directly to NBC News coverage of the White House limiting the FBI's supplemental investigation into Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct allegations. The Senate had ordered the investigation on September 28; by September 29–30 multiple outlets were reporting that the White House Counsel's office (Don McGahn) was constraining the FBI's witness list and interview scope. The post constitutes Trump's public denial of this constraint.

---

### Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "NBC News incorrectly reported that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh and witnesses only to certain people" | **Mostly False** | NBC's reporting was accurate. Contemporaneous and subsequent reporting from multiple outlets confirmed White House Counsel's office directed the FBI to work from a constrained witness list. A 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee investigation documented these limitations. The characterization of NBC's reporting as 'incorrect' is itself the inaccuracy. |
| "I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion" | **False** | Directly contradicted by documented White House constraints. FBI agents were directed to work only from a pre-approved tip line and constrained from proactively interviewing key witnesses including Julie Swetnick and others who had come forward with allegations. |

Overall Veracity: 10%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 72%)

### Indicators

- Late-night posting (10:49 PM EDT) strongly consistent with authentic Trump pattern
- Characteristic parenthetical attack '(as usual)' is a signature Trump rhetorical device
- Direct imperative 'Please correct your reporting!' reflects authentic emotional register
- Middle sentence ('at their discretion') is slightly more formal than typical stream-of-consciousness style, suggesting possible light aide editing or dictation polish
- Post follows rally return — Trump historically tweets late after events

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Mixed State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Exposure (NBC News report characterizing Trump as limiting FBI Kavanaugh investigation)

Sentiment: -0.30

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 55%
- Antisocial: 45%
- Paranoid: 50%
- Sadism: 10%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- denial (pathological)
- projection (immature)
- rationalization (neurotic)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 52%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Pre-emptive delegitimization of accurate reporting via pattern-coding '(as usual)'
- Public pressure tactic disguised as editorial request
- Reality inversion requiring audience to accept false premise as condition of in-group membership

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- Denial of documented White House constraint on FBI investigation scope
- Reframes accurate NBC reporting as professional failure requiring correction
- Reality inversion: documented limitation presented as its opposite ('at their discretion')
- Public pressure demand ('Please correct your reporting!') functions to pre-validate false claim before any correction issued

## Fact Checks (2)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-16._

> NBC News incorrectly reported that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh and witnesses only to certain people

**MOSTLY FALSE**

NBC's reporting was accurate. Contemporaneous and subsequent reporting from multiple outlets confirmed White House Counsel's office directed the FBI to work from a constrained witness list. A 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee investigation documented these limitations. The characterization of NBC's reporting as 'incorrect' is itself the inaccuracy.

Sources: New York Times reporting on FBI investigation scope constraints (Sept-Oct 2018); Senate Judiciary Committee 2023 report on Kavanaugh investigation; Washington Post contemporaneous reporting on White House counsel limitations

> I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion

**FALSE**

Directly contradicted by documented White House constraints. FBI agents were directed to work only from a pre-approved tip line and constrained from proactively interviewing key witnesses including Julie Swetnick and others who had come forward with allegations.

Sources: Senate Judiciary Committee report 2023; Contemporaneous reporting on White House Counsel Don McGahn's directives to FBI

Overall Veracity: 10%

## Tags

- gaslighting (90%)
- DARVO (85%)
- media-delegitimization (80%)
- denial (85%)
- Kavanaugh-confirmation (90%)
- reality-inversion (85%)
- FBI-investigation (85%)
- narcissistic-injury (70%)
- authentic-authorship (72%)
- late-evening-post (75%)

## That day

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

**Controlled Grandiosity Masks Kavanaugh Crisis Management on a Low-Volume Sunday**

A quiet day by Trump's standards — just six posts — split between late-evening rally afterglow and a Sunday afternoon spent managing the Kavanaugh FBI investigation narrative. The morning was silent, suggesting normal sleep. The afternoon brought a string of posts defending against media reports about limits on the FBI probe, praising Kanye West's MAGA hat moment on SNL, and touting Black unemployment numbers. The mood was largely self-congratulatory with a defensive undercurrent, and Trump notably ignored his own USMCA trade deal — a genuine policy win — in favor of cultural grievance and political combat.

Full digest for 2018-09-30: https://trump.fm/date/2018-09-30/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2018, September 30). NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1046230634103025664
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was..." X (Twitter), 30 Sep. 2018. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1046230634103025664. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was...," X (Twitter), September 30, 2018, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1046230634103025664.

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