# Post x_1078373893822431233

- Post ID: `x_1078373893822431233`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2018-12-27T19:35:46.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1078373893822431233
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1078373893822431233/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1078373893822431233.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> The reason the DACA for Wall deal didn’t get done was that a ridiculous court decision from the 9th Circuit allowed DACA to remain, thereby setting up a Supteme Court case. After ruling, Dems dropped deal - and that’s where we are today, Democrat obstruction of the needed Wall.

## Engagement

- Likes: 8,218
- Reposts: 2,339
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.393Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-16T19:43:30.518Z (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 defensive-explanatory post reflecting vulnerable narcissistic state, triggered by the ongoing government shutdown's public exposure of Trump's failure to deliver his signature campaign promise. The post deploys a tight rationalization narrative — deal existed → court/Democrats sabotaged it → Democrat obstruction — that systematically exonerates Trump while inverting documented causality. Most significantly, Trump who publicly claimed "pride" in shutting down the government on December 11 rewrites the shutdown as Democratic obstruction, a textbook DARVO-lite pattern. The misspelling "Supteme" is a reliable authenticity marker despite business-hours timestamp, suggesting personal authorship while consuming shutdown coverage. Splitting and projection are the dominant defenses; no rage or violent rhetoric is present. Fact-checking reveals the 9th Circuit claim is factually grounded but the deal-collapse narrative is substantially misleading, omitting Trump's own "shithole countries" remarks as the primary breakdown catalyst. Cognitive functioning is within established baseline. The post's psychological function is base maintenance and inoculation against accountability narratives rather than mobilization or attack — consistent with the foiled dealmaker victim narrative that activates when grandiose forward pressure is blocked by self-created obstacles.

## Analysis: x_1078373893822431233 — December 27, 2018

### Authorship & Context

Posted at 19:35 UTC = **2:35 PM Eastern Time** (Trump had returned from Iraq the previous day; he was almost certainly in Washington or en route). Business hours suggest possible aide authorship — but the misspelling **"Supteme"** (transposition of 'r' and 'e' in "Supreme") is a highly reliable authenticity marker. Staff-written posts are proofread. The reactive, self-justifying tone, idiosyncratic capitalization of "Wall," and stream-of-consciousness causal chain are all consistent with Trump composing this himself, likely while consuming cable news coverage of the shutdown. Authorship attribution: **authentic Trump**, moderate-to-high confidence.

---

### Psychological State & Trigger

The post was composed during the partial government shutdown (day 5), itself the product of Trump's stated willingness to shut down the government — he told Pelosi and Schumer on December 11: *"I am proud to shut down the government for border security."* The shutdown represented an inescapable public exposure of Trump's inability to deliver his signature campaign promise despite two years in office.

The psychological trigger is a **narcissistic injury**: the wall's non-delivery is becoming impossible to ignore. Rather than rage (the grandiose pole), this post occupies the **vulnerable narcissistic pole** — the foiled victim of external saboteurs. The shift is notable: Trump cannot attack his way out of a self-created shutdown, so the defensive mode activates.

---

### Defense Mechanisms

**Rationalization (neurotic):** The post constructs a pseudo-logical causal chain — court ruling → Democrats drop deal → obstruction — that functions to exonerate Trump entirely. The logic is seductive but selective, omitting Trump's own role in deal collapse (his reported "shithole countries" remarks in January 2018 derailed bipartisan negotiations before any court ruling could) and his public ownership of the shutdown.

**Splitting (immature):** The 9th Circuit is "ridiculous" (all-bad institutional actor); Democrats are pure obstructionists. No complexity, shared responsibility, or multi-causality is acknowledged. The world divides cleanly into Trump-who-had-a-deal and enemies-who-destroyed-it.

**Projection (immature):** The shutdown — caused by Trump's own stated refusal to sign a funding bill without wall money — is reframed as "Democrat obstruction." Trump's agency in creating the impasse is attributed entirely to the opponent. This is a mild DARVO pattern (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender): Trump becomes the victim of the situation he engineered.

---

### Narrative Identity (McAdams Level 3)

The post activates a **contamination sequence**: a deal was within reach (good state) → enemies intervened (contamination event) → we are now trapped in obstruction (bad state). Trump's protagonist role is the **foiled dealmaker** — competent, ready, betrayed. The phrase "that's where we are today" is rhetorically significant: it positions Trump as a passive observer of circumstances, subtly invoking the victim role while avoiding explicit victimhood language. The "contrasting other" is split between an activist judiciary and obstructionist Democrats.

---

### Rhetorical Analysis

The post employs a compressed but effective propaganda structure:

1. **Historical revisionism**: The deal-collapse narrative is factually selective; presenting the Alsup injunction as the primary cause of failure while omitting Trump's own inflammatory statements.
2. **Institutional delegitimization**: "Ridiculous court decision" is a recurring device in Trump's communications — it conditions the audience to view judicial oversight as partisan obstruction rather than constitutional function.
3. **Labeling**: "Democrat obstruction" functions as a political epithet that collapses complex legislative dynamics into a single morally loaded phrase.
4. **Causal oversimplification**: The three-step narrative (court → Democrats drop deal → obstruction) mimics logical structure while eliding contradictory evidence.
5. **False dichotomy**: Implicitly, there are only two actors — Trump who wants the wall and security, and Democrats who obstruct.

No dehumanizing language or violent imagery is present. This is persuasion in maintenance mode, not mobilization rhetoric.

---

### Gaslighting & Reality Distortion

The post contains a meaningful gaslighting element: it systematically rewrites the causal history of the shutdown, converting Trump's public, on-camera declaration of ownership into Democratic culpability. Consumers of only this post would have no basis to know Trump proudly claimed the shutdown. The 9th Circuit framing, while not entirely false, functions to insert a plausible-sounding external cause that redirects accountability.

---

### Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "A 9th Circuit court decision allowed DACA to remain" | **Mostly True** | Judge William Alsup (N.D. Cal., 9th Circuit district) issued a nationwide injunction in January 2018 requiring continuation of DACA renewals. Factually accurate; the court was in the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction. |
| "The court decision set up a Supreme Court case" | **True** | The Alsup injunction and subsequent circuit rulings did create the path to DHS v. Regents of University of California, decided by SCOTUS in June 2020. Claim is accurate. |
| "After the ruling, Democrats dropped the DACA-for-Wall deal" | **Mostly False** | While the Alsup injunction reduced Democratic urgency on DACA, the January 2018 bipartisan framework collapse is widely attributed primarily to Trump's reported 'shithole countries' remarks and his rejection of the bipartisan Gang of Six proposal, not to Democrats opportunistically abandoning a deal they had agreed to. The injunction was one factor but Trump's own actions were the primary breakdown catalyst. Attributing deal failure solely to Democrats 'dropping' the deal post-ruling reverses the documented causal sequence. |
| "The current situation is 'Democrat obstruction of the needed Wall'" | **Mostly False** | Trump stated on December 11, 2018 in a televised Oval Office meeting with Pelosi and Schumer: 'I am proud to shut down the government for border security.' Characterizing the resulting shutdown as one-sided Democratic obstruction omits his documented, on-camera ownership of the shutdown decision. |

Overall Veracity: 55%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 76%)

### Indicators

- Misspelling 'Supteme' for 'Supreme' — strong authenticity marker; aide-written posts are proofread
- Idiosyncratic capitalization of 'Wall' and 'Dems' consistent with Trump's authentic style
- Stream-of-consciousness causal chain without editorial polish
- 19:35 UTC = 2:35 PM ET (business hours) argues against authenticity, but typo overrides timing as primary indicator
- Reactive, self-justifying tone consistent with Trump composing while watching cable news coverage of shutdown

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Vulnerable State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Exposure (Ongoing government shutdown exposing failure to secure wall funding despite two years in office)

Sentiment: -0.50

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 50%
- Antisocial: 20%
- Paranoid: 40%
- Sadism: 0%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- rationalization (neurotic)
- splitting (immature)
- projection (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 44%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Shared victimhood framing ('that's where we are today' — 'we' includes audience)
- Explanation to base as trust-maintenance during accountability pressure
- Grievance reinforcement: naming external saboteurs for audience's cognitive map

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- Reframes shutdown — which Trump publicly claimed pride in causing on Dec 11 camera — as 'Democrat obstruction', converting his own agency into victimhood
- Selectively narrates DACA deal collapse, omitting Trump's 'shithole countries' remarks (January 2018) as primary breakdown factor and instead attributing failure to Democratic opportunism post-injunction
- Presents Trump as passive observer ('that's where we are today') despite his documented active role in creating the impasse

## Fact Checks (4)

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

> A 9th Circuit court decision allowed DACA to remain

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Judge William Alsup (N.D. Cal., 9th Circuit district) issued a nationwide injunction in January 2018 requiring continuation of DACA renewals. Factually accurate; the court was in the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction.

Sources: Regents of Univ. of California v. DHS, N.D. Cal. Jan. 9, 2018

> The court decision set up a Supreme Court case

**TRUE**

The Alsup injunction and subsequent circuit rulings did create the path to DHS v. Regents of University of California, decided by SCOTUS in June 2020. Claim is accurate.

Sources: DHS v. Regents of Univ. of California, 591 U.S. ___ (2020)

> After the ruling, Democrats dropped the DACA-for-Wall deal

**MOSTLY FALSE**

While the Alsup injunction reduced Democratic urgency on DACA, the January 2018 bipartisan framework collapse is widely attributed primarily to Trump's reported 'shithole countries' remarks and his rejection of the bipartisan Gang of Six proposal, not to Democrats opportunistically abandoning a deal they had agreed to. The injunction was one factor but Trump's own actions were the primary breakdown catalyst. Attributing deal failure solely to Democrats 'dropping' the deal post-ruling reverses the documented causal sequence.

Sources: Congressional reporting; Graham-Durbin bipartisan framework, January 2018

> The current situation is 'Democrat obstruction of the needed Wall'

**MOSTLY FALSE**

Trump stated on December 11, 2018 in a televised Oval Office meeting with Pelosi and Schumer: 'I am proud to shut down the government for border security.' Characterizing the resulting shutdown as one-sided Democratic obstruction omits his documented, on-camera ownership of the shutdown decision.

Sources: Dec 11, 2018 Oval Office meeting transcript (public record)

Overall Veracity: 55%

## Tags

- border_wall (95%)
- DACA (75%)
- government_shutdown (85%)
- 9th_circuit (65%)
- vulnerable_narcissism (65%)
- blame_externalization (85%)
- defensive_maintenance (70%)
- judicial_delegitimization (65%)
- historical_revisionism (75%)
- DARVO (60%)

## That day

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

**Military Victory Lap Dissolves Into Obsessive Shutdown Blame Spiral**

Trump started the day touting his just-completed surprise visit to troops in Iraq and Germany, but the triumphant tone didn't last. The vast majority of the day's posts fixated on the government shutdown and border wall, with Trump blaming Democrats for a standoff he'd publicly taken credit for two weeks earlier. The afternoon brought a burst of rapid-fire posts — including multiple delete-and-repost corrections — that weaponized a California police officer's killing to push the wall argument. A rare moment of candor stood out: one post openly admitted the fight was about Democrats "not letting Donald Trump have a win," undercutting the security framing of every other post that day.

Full digest for 2018-12-27: https://trump.fm/date/2018-12-27/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2018, December 27). The reason the DACA for Wall deal didn’t get done... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1078373893822431233
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "The reason the DACA for Wall deal didn’t get done was that..." X (Twitter), 27 Dec. 2018. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1078373893822431233. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "The reason the DACA for Wall deal didn’t get done was that...," X (Twitter), December 27, 2018, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1078373893822431233.

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