# Post x_1078390057906638853

- Post ID: `x_1078390057906638853`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2018-12-27T20:39:59.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1078390057906638853
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1078390057906638853/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1078390057906638853.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> “Border Patrol Agents want the Wall.” Democrat’s say they don’t want the Wall (even though they know it is really needed), and they don’t want ICE. They don’t have much to campaign on, do they? An Open Southern Border and the large scale crime that comes with such stupidity!

## Engagement

- Likes: 105,345
- Reposts: 24,285
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.393Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-16T19:46:12.279Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Posted Day 5 of the government shutdown Trump had publicly claimed ownership of on December 11, this tweet represents a textbook DARVO maneuver: Transfer shutdown ownership to Democrats, attack their credibility, and recast Trump as the border-security champion. The most psychologically notable feature is the parenthetical claim that Democrats oppose the Wall \\"even though they know it is really needed\\" — a mind-reading assertion that eliminates the possibility of principled opposition and reveals a paranoid interpretive schema in which disagreement is always secretly dishonest. Stylometric indicators (apostrophe error on a plural noun, oral rhetorical question, dismissive kicker) suggest authentic Trump authorship despite the afternoon Mar-a-Lago timestamp. Narcissistic state is grandiose rather than vulnerable — this is an attack posture, not a wounded one. Defense mechanisms include projection of electoral weakness onto Democrats, splitting (Wall=safety/no Wall=crime), and rationalization that preserves the worldview by denying legitimate disagreement. Three verifiable factual claims are made; two are mostly false or false, with the ICE-abolition conflation being the most distorting rhetorical move. No cognitive markers of concern; complexity and error patterns are baseline-consistent. No danger indicators in this specific post. Part of a same-day cluster of five or more Wall-themed posts, suggesting Trump was in an ideologically focused loop following the politically costly Iraq trip and escalating shutdown pressure.

# Psychological & Rhetorical Analysis
## Trump Twitter Post — December 27, 2018

---

### Authorship Attribution

**Local time:** UTC 20:39 → 3:39 PM EST. Trump was almost certainly at Mar-a-Lago on December 27, having returned from the surprise Iraq trip on December 26. Mar-a-Lago is Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5), placing this post at mid-afternoon — solidly within business hours, which mildly weights toward aide assistance. However, several indicators strongly suggest authentic Trump:

- **"Democrat's"** — an apostrophe error on a plural noun is a recurring Trump fingerprint (cf. "Supteme Court" in the same day's posts)
- **Rhetorical question format** ("They don't have much to campaign on, do they?") — a characteristic Trump oral-speech construction rarely used by professional communications staff
- **Parenthetical aside** ("even though they know it is really needed") — this intrusive clause, asserting knowledge of opponents' private beliefs, is a persistent Trump stylistic tell
- **"such stupidity!"** — dismissive, colloquial kicker with exclamation mark is signature Trump sign-off
- The post fits a same-day thematic cluster: at least four other posts that day hammered the same Wall/obstruction/Democrat messaging framework, suggesting Trump himself was in a focused ideological loop rather than scripted staff deployment

**Confidence: medium-high** that this is Trump-authored, despite the afternoon timestamp. The grammatical error is particularly diagnostic.

---

### Situational Context

The post arrives on Day 5 of the partial government shutdown Trump had publicly and proudly claimed ownership of on December 11 ("I am proud to shut down the government for border security"). By December 27, that framing had become politically costly — markets had just suffered their worst Christmas Eve in history, Mattis had resigned, McGurk had resigned, and the shutdown was affecting ~800,000 workers. This post is part of a multi-tweet campaign to reassign ownership of the shutdown to Democrats and recast Trump as the border-security champion rather than the shutdown author.

---

### Level 1 — Dispositional Traits (Big Five)

**Dominant facets expressed:**
- **Low Agreeableness** (trust, modesty): The post is exclusively adversarial — no conciliation, no acknowledgment of opposing perspectives as legitimate. Democrats are characterized as knowing they are wrong while lying publicly.
- **High Extraversion** (assertiveness, dominance): Bold declarative claims, rhetorical challenge, zero hedging.
- **High Neuroticism / Angry Hostility**: The "such stupidity!" terminal exclamation is emotionally charged rather than analytically concluded.
- **Low Openness** (values rigidity): Binary framing with no acknowledgment of policy complexity.

---

### Level 2 — Characteristic Adaptations

**Agency motives dominate overwhelmingly** — the post is about control of the political narrative, framing opponents as weak and wrong, positioning Trump's side as holding both authority (Border Patrol endorsement) and moral clarity. Communion motives are entirely absent.

**Schema revealed:** The world is a zero-sum competition between those who see reality clearly (Trump, Border Patrol) and those who lie for political advantage (Democrats). Opponents are not merely wrong — they secretly *know* they are wrong. This schema (projecting private agreement onto public opponents) is a recurring cognitive pattern that serves to eliminate the legitimacy of disagreement entirely.

---

### Level 3 — Narrative Identity

**Protagonist role:** Warrior/Truth-Teller — Trump positions himself as the clear-eyed defender of what "everyone knows" is necessary, surrounded by bad-faith opponents.

**Narrative sequence:** Contamination → partial redemption in progress. The implicit story: America had/has a crisis (border crime, human trafficking), Trump proposes the solution (Wall), Democrats sabotage it for cynical political reasons. The redemption (Wall gets built) is pending, blocked by the contaminating force (Democrat obstruction).

**Identity claims:** Defender of public safety; ally of law enforcement; alone willing to state what is "really needed."

**Contrasting other:** Democrats — characterized as dishonest, cynically anti-security, dependent on open-border chaos for electoral advantage.

**Rhetorical question as dominance display:** "They don't have much to campaign on, do they?" invites the follower to join Trump in contempt rather than deliberation. It forecloses rather than opens.

---

### Level 4 — Clinical Indicators

#### Narcissistic Dynamics

**Trigger:** Narcissistic injury — Trump had publicly *claimed ownership* of the shutdown on December 11, making the subsequent political costs (market crash, troop visit optics, resignation cascade) reflect directly on him. This post is a DARVO response: **D**eny (the shutdown is really Democrats' fault), **A**ttack (they don't want ICE, they're stupid), **R**everse **V**ictim and **O**ffender (Democrats are to blame for the consequences).

**Rage:** Mild-to-moderate, modulated. The hostility is present ("such stupidity!") but controlled — this is performative contempt for an audience more than raw rage expression.

**Narcissistic state:** **Grandiose** — no victimhood register here. Trump is dominant, challenging, certain. Contrast with vulnerable register he sometimes adopts (persecution framing, "witch hunt" language). This post is an attack posture.

#### Defense Mechanisms

1. **Projection (Immature):** "They don't have much to campaign on" — projects electoral weakness onto opponents during a period when Trump himself faced significant political vulnerability from the self-claimed shutdown.
2. **Splitting (Immature):** Binary Wall = safety / No Wall = crime. No complexity, gradation, or acknowledgment of policy tradeoffs.
3. **Rationalization (Neurotic):** Democrats oppose the Wall "even though they know it is really needed" — this rationalization preserves Trump's worldview by denying that opposition could be principled. Disagreement becomes deception, not difference.
4. **Distortion (Pathological, mild):** Asserting knowledge of opponents' private beliefs ("they know it is really needed") reshapes external reality to fit internal schema.

#### Paranoid Features

Moderate. The framing that Democrats secretly agree with Trump but lie publicly for political gain reflects a persecutory interpretive schema — the enemy is not just wrong but deceitfully *concealing* what they know to be true.

#### Cognitive Status

No notable markers of concern. Syntax is simple but functional and intentional. The "Democrat's" apostrophe error is a habitual spelling pattern, not a new cognitive signal. The same-day "Supteme Court" error in an adjacent post is similarly a pattern-consistent typing error. **Baseline deviation: none.** Complexity is consistent with Trump's established Twitter register.

---

### Rhetorical & Propaganda Analysis

1. **Appeal to Authority:** Opening with "Border Patrol Agents want the Wall" — law enforcement endorsement as rhetorical anchor before the attack begins.
2. **Mind-Reading / False Certainty:** "(even though they know it is really needed)" — claims access to opponents' private cognition, eliminates the possibility of legitimate disagreement.
3. **False Dichotomy:** Open border + crime vs. Wall + safety — no middle ground acknowledged.
4. **Rhetorical Question:** "They don't have much to campaign on, do they?" — audience is invited to share the contempt, not evaluate the claim.
5. **Ad Hominem / Group Derogation:** "such stupidity!" — policy disagreement reframed as intellectual failure.
6. **Conflation:** Merging border-security debate with anti-ICE position — the latter was held by a small progressive faction, not mainstream Democrats, but the conflation paints all Democrats with the most extreme position.
7. **Fear appeal:** "large scale crime" — connects immigration (and by extension, Democrats) to criminal danger.

**Dehumanizing language:** Absent in this post specifically.
**Violent imagery:** Absent.
**Stochastic terrorism indicators:** Not present.

---

### Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Border Patrol Agents want the Wall" | **Mostly True** | The National Border Patrol Council (union) endorsed Trump and publicly supported border wall construction. However, the post generalizes a union's institutional position to all individual agents, which is not established. |
| "Democrats don't want ICE" | **Mostly False** | A small faction of progressive Democrats (notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, elected November 2018) called for abolishing ICE. This was not the official Democratic Party position or held by most Democratic members of Congress. The post conflates a minority fringe position with the entire party. |
| "An Open Southern Border and the large scale crime that comes with such stupidity" | **False** | Democrats did not advocate for an open southern border — they supported alternative border security measures. Multiple peer-reviewed studies show undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens. The 'open border' characterization is inaccurate, and the crime causation claim inverts the available evidence. |

Overall Veracity: 33%

## Authorship Analysis

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

### Indicators

- Apostrophe error on plural noun ('Democrat's') — a recurring Trump fingerprint
- Parenthetical aside asserting knowledge of opponents' private beliefs — characteristic intrusive clause style
- Rhetorical question with tag ('do they?') — oral-speech construction rarely used by staff
- Dismissive kicker with exclamation mark ('such stupidity!') — signature Trump sign-off pattern
- Part of a same-day thematic cluster of 5+ Wall posts — suggests Trump-driven ideological loop rather than scheduled staff deployment

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Defeat (Government shutdown Trump publicly claimed ownership of on Dec 11 had become politically costly; market crash, resignation cascade, and public pressure required narrative reassignment)

**Rage:** Intensity 35% targeting Democratic Party collectively
- Proportionality: 40%

Sentiment: -0.62

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 68%
- Antisocial: 35%
- Paranoid: 50%
- Sadism: 25%

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

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 28%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Rhetorical question inviting audience to share contempt ('They don't have much to campaign on, do they?')
- Appeal to law enforcement authority to establish in-group solidarity
- Binary framing that positions followers as the clear-seeing vs. the deceived

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- 'Even though they know it is really needed' — asserts certainty about opponents' private beliefs, delegitimizing dissent by recasting genuine policy disagreement as deliberate public deception
- Broader framing attempts to transfer shutdown ownership to Democrats despite Trump's December 11 on-record statement ('I am proud to shut down the government for border security') — rapid revisionism of a documented statement

## Fact Checks (3)

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

> Border Patrol Agents want the Wall

**MOSTLY TRUE**

The National Border Patrol Council (union) endorsed Trump and publicly supported border wall construction. However, the post generalizes a union's institutional position to all individual agents, which is not established.

Sources: National Border Patrol Council public statements and endorsements, 2016-2018

> Democrats don't want ICE

**MOSTLY FALSE**

A small faction of progressive Democrats (notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, elected November 2018) called for abolishing ICE. This was not the official Democratic Party position or held by most Democratic members of Congress. The post conflates a minority fringe position with the entire party.

Sources: Congressional Democratic statements on ICE, 2018

> An Open Southern Border and the large scale crime that comes with such stupidity

**FALSE**

Democrats did not advocate for an open southern border — they supported alternative border security measures. Multiple peer-reviewed studies show undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens. The 'open border' characterization is inaccurate, and the crime causation claim inverts the available evidence.

Sources: Cato Institute immigration crime research; National Academy of Sciences immigration reports

Overall Veracity: 33%

## Tags

- border-wall (95%)
- government-shutdown (90%)
- DARVO (85%)
- democrats-as-target (88%)
- mind-reading-assertion (80%)
- grandiose-state (75%)
- immigration (85%)
- fear-appeal (65%)
- factual-conflation (78%)
- narrative-reassignment (85%)

## 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). “Border Patrol Agents want the Wall.” Democrat’s... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1078390057906638853
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "“Border Patrol Agents want the Wall.” Democrat’s say they..." X (Twitter), 27 Dec. 2018. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1078390057906638853. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "“Border Patrol Agents want the Wall.” Democrat’s say they...," X (Twitter), December 27, 2018, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1078390057906638853.

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