# Post x_1070698825571012613

- Post ID: `x_1070698825571012613`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2018-12-06T15:17:47.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1070698825571012613
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1070698825571012613/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1070698825571012613.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we have accomplished in the last almost two years (Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judge’s, Military, Vets, etc.) my approval rating would be at 75% rather than the 50% just reported by Rasmussen. It’s called Presidential Harassment!

## Engagement

- Likes: 119,107
- Reposts: 27,486
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.393Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-16T16:05:18.069Z (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 represents a multi-defense response to simultaneous acute narcissistic injuries on December 6, 2018: Flynn's 19 Mueller cooperation sessions, Cohen's Trump Tower Moscow guilty plea, the Bush funeral eulogy exclusion, and a 50% Rasmussen approval reading. The response architecture is textbook DARVO — deny (phony), attack (witch hunt), reverse victim/offender (Presidential Harassment!). The 75% counterfactual approval figure is the most clinically salient element: it is not a reasoned estimate but a grandiose assertion about deserved status suppressed by malign forces, consistent with paranoid-grandiose narcissistic presentation under acute threat. The post oscillates between grandiose state (75% fantasy, accomplishment listing) and vulnerable state (harassment, persecution), a mixed narcissistic configuration characteristic of multi-front pressure. Defense mechanisms operating in parallel include pathological denial of the investigation's legitimacy despite multiple guilty pleas, wholesale reality distortion in the counterfactual statistic, projection of persecutory motive onto investigators, and rationalization constructing logical-seeming causal chains for the approval gap. Authorship indicators strongly favor authentic Trump despite business-hours timing: the 'Judge's' apostrophe error, stream-of-consciousness parentheticals, emotional reactivity, and invented political coinage are inconsistent with aide composition. Cognitive status is at baseline; no frank decline indicators. Danger level: none — inflammatory but no eliminationist language or direct target identification.

# Psychological Analysis — December 6, 2018

## Context and Triggering Events

This post arrives amid a confluence of acute narcissistic injuries: Michael Flynn's sentencing memo revealed 19 cooperation sessions with Mueller's team (directly threatening Trump's narrative that the investigation was a "hoax" with nothing to find); Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying about Trump Tower Moscow negotiations that extended into June 2016 (contradicting Trump's repeated public denials); and Trump had just attended the Bush state funeral where he was conspicuously not invited to deliver a eulogy — a high-visibility social slight in front of every living former president and global dignitaries. The Rasmussen 50% approval figure cited in the post served as the immediate precipitant.

## DARVO Structure

The post executes a textbook DARVO sequence with striking efficiency:
- **Deny**: "phony Russia Witch Hunt" — pre-judges the investigation as fabricated
- **Attack**: frames the entire legal accountability structure as politically motivated persecution
- **Reverse Victim and Offender**: coins "Presidential Harassment!" — transforms subject of criminal investigation into the aggrieved party

## Counterfactual Grandiosity

The 75% approval counterfactual is psychologically revealing. Sustained 75% approval would rival wartime rally-round-the-flag peaks and would represent one of the highest approval ratings in modern American polling history. The figure is not a reasoned estimate — it is a grandiose fantasy about deserved status, externalized as a fact suppressed by malign forces. This cognitive move (I would be great if not for enemies) is a core feature of the paranoid-grandiose narcissistic presentation.

## Personality Architecture

**Level 1 (Traits):** Dominant features are angry hostility (neuroticism), assertiveness (extraversion), and very low agreeableness. The accomplishment list shows achievement-striving as a facet of conscientiousness deployed defensively rather than productively.

**Level 2 (Motives):** Agency motivation (power, status, control) dominates completely. The approval rating discussion is pure status-tracking; communion motives are absent.

**Level 3 (Narrative):** Protagonist is the martyred achiever — someone who has accomplished extraordinary things but has been denied the recognition he deserves due to enemy persecution. This is a contamination sequence narrative: legitimate achievement has been contaminated by the witch hunt, suppressing deserved approval.

## Defense Mechanisms

Four defenses operate simultaneously:
1. **Denial** (pathological): The investigation, which had produced multiple guilty pleas, is dismissed as "phony"
2. **Distortion** (pathological): The 75% counterfactual reshapes reality wholesale
3. **Projection** (immature): Legitimate legal process reframed as political attack
4. **Rationalization** (neurotic): Causal logic constructed to explain the approval gap

## Authorship

Despite business-hours posting (10:17 AM Washington DC local time, where Trump was attending the Bush funeral), stylistic markers strongly favor authentic composition: the apostrophe error in "Judge's," the stream-of-consciousness parenthetical structure, the emotionally reactive grievance logic, and the invented political coinage "Presidential Harassment!" are inconsistent with aide authorship. The adjacent "Working hard, thank you!" post reads as aide-written by contrast, suggesting a mixed session.

## Rhetorical Observations

Rasmussen is strategically selected: in December 2018, Rasmussen showed Trump approximately 5-8 points higher than aggregated national polling, making it the optimal anchor for constructing a grievance narrative about undervalued approval.

## Epistemic Closure Dynamics

The post implicitly asks followers to accept: (a) the investigation is entirely illegitimate, (b) legitimate approval is 75%, and (c) the gap between perceived and deserved status constitutes "harassment." Acceptance of these claims as group membership signals is consistent with epistemic closure dynamics.

## Danger Assessment

No eliminationist language, dehumanization, or stochastic terrorism indicators present. The "harassment" framing contributes to delegitimization of the investigative process, which carries indirect institutional risk, but no direct danger indicators are present in this post.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Rasmussen reported 50% approval rating" | **Mostly True** | Rasmussen Reports consistently polled Trump higher than national polling aggregates. In December 2018, Rasmussen had him ranging 47-50%, consistent with the cited figure. However, citing Rasmussen alone without noting it was an outlier vs. aggregated national polling (which showed ~42-44%) is selectively misleading. |
| "75% approval would result without the Russia investigation" | **False** | This is an unverifiable counterfactual asserted as fact. 75% sustained approval would be among the highest in modern American polling history, achieved only briefly during wartime rally-around-the-flag events (e.g., post-9/11 George W. Bush). No credible analytical basis exists for this figure. |
| "Tax and Regulation Cuts accomplished in nearly two years" | **Mostly True** | The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (December 2017) and significant regulatory rollback via executive orders are documented accomplishments. The characterization is self-serving but factually grounded. |
| "Russia investigation is 'phony'" | **False** | By December 6, 2018, the Mueller investigation had secured guilty pleas from Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and others. Cohen's guilty plea that same day directly implicated Trump Tower Moscow discussions. Characterizing this as 'phony' contradicts documented legal outcomes. |

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 78%)

### Indicators

- 'Judge's' apostrophe error (possessive where plural intended)
- Stream-of-consciousness parenthetical asides
- Neologistic political coinage 'Presidential Harassment!'
- Emotional reactivity and grievance-driven structure
- Invented counterfactual statistic (75%) typical of authentic posts

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Mixed State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (Simultaneous legal and social threats: Flynn's 19 cooperation sessions with Mueller, Cohen's guilty plea implicating Trump Tower Moscow, exclusion from Bush eulogy, and 50% approval rating)

**Rage:** Intensity 55% targeting Mueller investigation / unnamed political opponents
- Proportionality: 30%

Sentiment: -0.42

Baseline Deviation: slight

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 82%
- Antisocial: 52%
- Paranoid: 75%
- Sadism: 15%

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

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 38%

Cognitive Markers:
- word finding difficulty
- semantic paraphasia

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Sharing approval rating data to create sense of shared grievance with followers
- Inviting audience to share in the injustice frame ('It's called Presidential Harassment!')
- Listing accomplishments as proxy validation-seeking

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- 'Phony Russia Witch Hunt' — attacks validity of investigation with multiple documented guilty pleas already secured
- 'Presidential Harassment!' — reframes legal accountability as political persecution, asking followers to adopt this distorted framing
- Rasmussen selective citation presented as neutral data while omitting that it was an outlier vs. aggregated national polling
- Counterfactual 75% figure asserted with factual confidence despite having no evidential basis

## Fact Checks (4)

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

> Rasmussen reported 50% approval rating

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Rasmussen Reports consistently polled Trump higher than national polling aggregates. In December 2018, Rasmussen had him ranging 47-50%, consistent with the cited figure. However, citing Rasmussen alone without noting it was an outlier vs. aggregated national polling (which showed ~42-44%) is selectively misleading.

Sources: Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll, December 2018

> 75% approval would result without the Russia investigation

**FALSE**

This is an unverifiable counterfactual asserted as fact. 75% sustained approval would be among the highest in modern American polling history, achieved only briefly during wartime rally-around-the-flag events (e.g., post-9/11 George W. Bush). No credible analytical basis exists for this figure.

> Tax and Regulation Cuts accomplished in nearly two years

**MOSTLY TRUE**

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (December 2017) and significant regulatory rollback via executive orders are documented accomplishments. The characterization is self-serving but factually grounded.

> Russia investigation is 'phony'

**FALSE**

By December 6, 2018, the Mueller investigation had secured guilty pleas from Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and others. Cohen's guilty plea that same day directly implicated Trump Tower Moscow discussions. Characterizing this as 'phony' contradicts documented legal outcomes.

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Tags

- DARVO (92%)
- counterfactual_grandiosity (88%)
- narcissistic_injury_response (90%)
- witch_hunt_framing (95%)
- approval_rating_grievance (85%)
- Presidential_Harassment_coinage (80%)
- investigation_delegitimization (88%)
- mixed_narcissistic_state (78%)
- Rasmussen_selective_citation (72%)
- authentic_authorship (78%)

## That day

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

**Post-Funeral Restraint Crumbles Under Mueller Pressure as Trump Retreats to Grievance Loop**

Trump began the evening after George H.W. Bush's state funeral with restrained, deflective posts, but by morning had shifted entirely into grievance mode over the Russia investigation. He twice posted nearly identical complaints claiming his "real" approval rating should be 75%, coining the phrase "Presidential Harassment" as a branding exercise. A single staff-written post about a military incident was the only departure from an otherwise self-focused day. The mood was defensive and repetitive rather than explosive.

Full digest for 2018-12-06: https://trump.fm/date/2018-12-06/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2018, December 6). Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1070698825571012613
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we..." X (Twitter), 6 Dec. 2018. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1070698825571012613. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we...," X (Twitter), December 6, 2018, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1070698825571012613.

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