# Post x_1173728487162540000 - Post ID: `x_1173728487162540000` - Platform: X (Twitter) - Posted: 2019-09-17T02:40:52.000Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1173728487162540000.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > I call for the Resignation of everybody at The New York Times involved in the Kavanaugh SMEAR story, and while you’re at it, the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, which is just as phony! They’ve taken the Old Grey Lady and broken her down, destroyed her virtue and ruined her reputation... ## Engagement - Likes: 0 - Reposts: 24,659 - Replies: 0 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:33:25.056Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-18T11:38:21.378Z (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 late-night post (10:40 PM ET) exhibits high-confidence authentic Trump authorship and represents a compressed narcissistic rage discharge triggered by the NYT's Kavanaugh story — which reopened the psychologically charged confirmation battle, a signature achievement now threatened by renewed misconduct allegations. The response is clinically notable for three reasons. First, disproportionality: a journalistic omission (not fabrication) triggers demands for mass institutional resignations, reflecting the characteristic gap between narcissistic injury and reality-proportionate response. Second, grievance telescoping: mid-sentence, Trump bundles the Kavanaugh story with the Russia investigation — a chronic wound — suggesting both stimuli share a common narcissistic register. Third, the post's central metaphor is a remarkable self-betrayal: Trump deploys the language of sexual violation and virtue destruction ('broken her down, destroyed her virtue, ruined her reputation') to defend a justice accused of sexual misconduct, projecting the very dynamic onto the press institution. Defense mechanisms include pathological denial (characterizing both stories as fabrication) and projection (casting NYT journalists as the destroyers of institutional reputation). Danger is elevated but sub-critical: mass resignation demands against named press institutions constitute documented delegitimization rhetoric that contributes to journalist threat environments even absent explicit incitement. Fact-checking confirms the NYT did make a significant editorial error, lending the post partial empirical grounding — a characteristic Trump pattern of embedding distortion within legitimate grievance. # Psychological Analysis: September 17, 2019 (02:40 UTC / 22:40 ET) ## Authorship Attribution — **High Confidence: Authentic (0.92)** Trump was in Washington DC on September 16 (Medal of Freedom ceremony for Mariano Rivera at the White House). UTC 02:40:52 converts to **10:40 PM Eastern Time** — squarely within his documented late-night posting window. Stylistic markers reinforce this: ALL CAPS on "SMEAR," the casual aside *"and while you're at it,"* the trailing ellipsis suggesting truncated stream-of-consciousness, and emotional reactivity to the news cycle rather than scheduled content. Aide-authored content typically maintains single-topic focus and avoids open-ended ellipsis construction. This post has the hallmarks of an impulsive, unedited thought discharge. --- ## Trigger and Narcissistic Dynamics The proximate trigger is the NYT's republication of Kavanaugh allegations — but the psychological significance runs deeper. Kavanaugh's confirmation was among Trump's most consequential and embattled achievements; the confirmation hearings were a prolonged public spectacle of tribal warfare in which Trump was heavily personally invested. A new credible-seeming allegation re-opens that wound. The response is therefore not proportionate to a newspaper's editorial omission; it is proportionate to *perceived re-injury to a totemic victory.* The mid-sentence pivot — *"and while you're at it, the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax"* — is diagnostically significant. Trump bundles two temporally distant grievances into a single undifferentiated institutional indictment. This **grievance chaining** pattern suggests both injuries share a common narcissistic register (challenges to his legitimacy and achievement) rather than being independently processed. The colloquial "while you're at it" also betrays the casual totality with which he has pre-catalogued these grievances, ready for deployment. **Narcissistic state:** Mixed — primarily *grandiose* (commanding mass resignations, authoritative declaration) but with *vulnerable* undercurrent (victimized by coordinated institutional attack). **Rage intensity: 0.78.** The demand for resignation of *"everybody"* involved is maximalist — it does not engage with the specific journalistic failure but rather seeks institutional annihilation as a response. Rage proportionality is low (0.30): the NYT error, while significant, was an omission corrected with an editor's note, not evidence of coordinated fabrication. --- ## Defense Mechanisms **Denial (Pathological):** Both the Kavanaugh story and the Russia investigation are characterized as entirely fabricated — "SMEAR," "phony," "Hoax." This collapses a genuine editorial error (the omission of the victim's lack of recollection) and a documented federal investigation into undifferentiated falsehood. **Distortion (Pathological):** The post reshapes reality to meet an inner need: the NYT is not an institution that made an error, but an institution engaged in willful smear campaigns deserving total institutional decapitation. **Projection (Immature):** In a striking rhetorical irony, Trump accuses NYT journalists of "destroying virtue" and "ruining reputation" — the very activities he routinely performs against individuals and institutions. The accusation is a mirror of his own behavioral pattern. --- ## The "Old Grey Lady" Metaphor — Rhetorical and Psychological Analysis This is the most analytically rich element of the post. Trump writes: *"They've taken the Old Grey Lady and broken her down, destroyed her virtue and ruined her reputation."* The metaphor casts the NYT as a feminine figure who has been sexually violated and morally degraded by her own employees. The language — "broken her down," "destroyed her virtue" — carries unmistakable connotations of sexual assault and reputational ruination through violation. This metaphor is deployed in defense of a Supreme Court justice accused of sexual misconduct. The irony may be unconscious rather than deliberate. From a Jungian perspective, Trump is projecting a **Shadow** dynamic onto the press: the NYT staff become the violators/destroyers, while Trump positions himself as the institution's moral defender. The unconscious content (defense of someone accused of sexual violation) seeps into the chosen imagery (press as sexually violated institution), revealing the psychological inversion at the post's core. --- ## Narrative Identity (McAdams Level 3) - **Protagonist role:** Institutional guardian, avenger of the wrongly accused — casting himself as the only figure willing to demand accountability from a corrupt press - **Narrative sequence:** Contamination — a once-great institution (Old Grey Lady) has been destroyed by ideological operatives within - **Contrasting other:** The New York Times as archetype of corrupt establishment media - **Identity claims:** *I am the voice that names the corruption others will not name; I alone can call institutions to account* --- ## Big Five Profile (This Post) | Trait | Expression | |-------|-----------| | Extraversion | Very high — assertive, dominant, socially broadcasting | | Agreeableness | Very low — combative, contemptuous, zero accommodation | | Conscientiousness | Low — impulsive, undeliberated, reactive | | Neuroticism | Very high — angry hostility, emotional dysregulation | | Openness | Very low — rigid, categorizing, no epistemic flexibility | **Dominant facet:** Angry Hostility (N2 — Neuroticism facet) --- ## Rhetorical and Propaganda Techniques 1. **Hyperbole:** "everybody at The New York Times" — calls for total institutional purge 2. **Synecdoche:** Single flawed story (with legitimate factual basis for criticism) stands for entire institution's irredeemable illegitimacy 3. **Firehose technique:** Bundling Kavanaugh + Russia into one institutional attack prevents any single claim from being evaluated on its merits 4. **False equivalence:** A journalistic omission is presented as morally equivalent to a multi-year federal investigation 5. **Personification with sexual overtones:** "Old Grey Lady... broken her down, destroyed her virtue" — ironic given context 6. **Delegitimization via dismissal:** "just as phony" — rhetorical flattening of complexity --- ## Gaslighting Assessment — **Present** - The Russia investigation is characterized as a "Hoax" despite bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee and Mueller findings confirming Russian electoral interference — a documented, verified reality denied - The Kavanaugh story is characterized as a "SMEAR" wholesale, when the actual failure was editorial omission, not fabrication - Epistemic closure is promoted: followers are implicitly asked to accept that all NYT coverage is fabricated, foreclosing independent evaluation --- ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "The Kavanaugh story was a smear" | **Mostly False** | NYT published new allegations from Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly's forthcoming book. The story omitted that the alleged victim, Deborah Ramirez, did not recall the incident — a significant editorial failure. However, the underlying allegation was sourced from a named witness (Max Stier). The error was real but characterizing the entire story as a fabricated smear misrepresents the nature of the journalistic failure. | | "The Russian Witch Hunt is a Hoax" | **Mostly False** | The Mueller investigation and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee both documented extensive Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller did not establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but the underlying investigation was predicated on documented facts, not fabrication. 'Hoax' mischaracterizes documented findings. | | "The women mentioned in the Kavanaugh story said she didn't even remember the event (follow-up post)" | **True** | NYT's own correction confirmed the alleged victim (per the authors' book) said she did not recall the incident. This was the basis for the widespread criticism of the original story. The NYT added an editor's note acknowledging the omission. | Overall Veracity: 47% ## Danger Assessment — **Elevated** No explicit eliminationist language or direct violent imagery. Danger is elevated (not high) for systemic reasons: - Mass resignation demands against named press institutions build an audience permission structure for hostility toward journalists - Labeling institutional coverage as "smear" and "hoax" contributes to the documented pattern of journalist harassment and threats from Trump's base - The institutional illegitimacy framing is a prerequisite for more extreme delegitimization steps, suggesting escalatory trajectory risk **Stochastic terrorism:** Not present in this specific post. --- ## Longitudinal Context The prior-day posts show a normal operational range: rally promotion, patriotic ceremony (Mariano Rivera), campaign hashtags. The September 17 Kavanaugh posts represent a reactive emotional episode superimposed on this baseline — a characteristic pattern where news-cycle injury triggers late-night discharge. The co-occurrence of the "locked and loaded" Iran statement (also this period) suggests a compressed high-arousal window in which multiple threat stimuli were active simultaneously. Worth monitoring for clustering of these activation events. ## Authorship Analysis **Self-Written** (score: 92%) ### Indicators - Late-night posting: 10:40 PM Eastern Time (Washington DC location confirmed by prior-day Medal of Freedom ceremony at White House) - ALL CAPS emphasis on 'SMEAR' — characteristic authentic marker - Trailing ellipsis suggesting incomplete stream-of-consciousness thought - Casual colloquial aside — 'and while you're at it' — natural spoken register - Emotional reactivity to news cycle rather than scheduled content ## Psychological Profile ### State **Mixed State** **Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (New York Times — new Kavanaugh allegations re-opened wounds around the confirmation battle that was a signature Trump achievement; the Russian investigation reference reveals co-occurring chronic injury) **Rage:** Intensity 78% targeting New York Times editorial and reporting staff - Proportionality: 30% Sentiment: -0.72 **Mildly Hypomanic** - Late-night posting at 10:40 PM following a full day of official events including Medal of Freedom ceremony - Rapid topic escalation — single NYT story triggers demand for mass institutional resignations - Within-hour cluster of multiple tweets on same topic suggesting compressed discharge pattern - Disinhibited grandiosity — believing presidential declaration can compel private press resignations ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 82% - Antisocial: 61% - Paranoid: 73% - Sadism: 45% **Defense Mechanisms:** - denial (pathological) - distortion (pathological) - projection (immature) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 48% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Creates shared enemy with base (NYT as institutional villain) - Deploys pre-existing audience grievance (Kavanaugh) as activation trigger - Positions himself as sole voice of institutional accountability - Invites audience to join in condemnation via rhetorical 'while you're at it' ## Danger Assessment **ELEVATED** ### Indicators - Mass resignation demands against named press institution constitute coordinated delegitimization that historically precedes hostile action by followers against targeted journalists - Bundling of two major grievances signals escalatory momentum rather than reactive response to single story - Audience priming against institutional press reliability contributes to documented patterns of journalist harassment and threats from the base - No direct eliminationist language, but institutional condemnation at this scale occupies the elevated tier of stochastic concern ### Gaslighting - Characterizes Russian investigation as 'Hoax' despite documented Senate Intelligence Committee and Mueller findings confirming Russian interference - Labels Kavanaugh story a 'SMEAR' wholesale — collapsing a legitimate (if flawed) editorial omission into fabrication - Implies NYT has 'ruined her reputation' when the reputational challenge flows from their own omission, not coverage of Trump ## Fact Checks (3) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-18._ > The Kavanaugh story was a smear **MOSTLY FALSE** NYT published new allegations from Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly's forthcoming book. The story omitted that the alleged victim, Deborah Ramirez, did not recall the incident — a significant editorial failure. However, the underlying allegation was sourced from a named witness (Max Stier). The error was real but characterizing the entire story as a fabricated smear misrepresents the nature of the journalistic failure. Sources: NYT correction issued September 15-16 2019; Known events context: 'NYT published new allegations but omitted that the alleged victim had no recollection' > The Russian Witch Hunt is a Hoax **MOSTLY FALSE** The Mueller investigation and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee both documented extensive Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller did not establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but the underlying investigation was predicated on documented facts, not fabrication. 'Hoax' mischaracterizes documented findings. Sources: Mueller Report Volume I; Senate Intelligence Committee bipartisan findings > The women mentioned in the Kavanaugh story said she didn't even remember the event (follow-up post) **TRUE** NYT's own correction confirmed the alleged victim (per the authors' book) said she did not recall the incident. This was the basis for the widespread criticism of the original story. The NYT added an editor's note acknowledging the omission. Sources: NYT editor's note issued after original publication; Known events context Overall Veracity: 47% ## Tags - media_hostility (95%) - kavanaugh_defense (88%) - russia_investigation (72%) - resignation_demand (85%) - narcissistic_rage (78%) - grievance_chaining (82%) - institutional_delegitimization (75%) - late_night_authentic (92%) - gaslighting (71%) - feminine_metaphor_irony (65%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **NYT Kavanaugh Story Triggers Sustained Institutional Rage That Bookends a New Mexico Rally** Trump spent the day ricocheting between attacking the New York Times over its flawed Kavanaugh story and basking in the glow of a large campaign rally in New Mexico. The evening began with escalating demands that the NYT shut its doors and staff resign, fueled by a legitimate editorial omission the paper had made. A successful rally in Rio Rancho temporarily calmed things, producing effusive patriotic rhetoric, but by afternoon the NYT attacks resumed at a slightly lower boil. The day's emotional throughline was a grievance that kept resurfacing despite the high of a packed arena — the Kavanaugh wound clearly cutting deeper than the rally could heal. Full digest for 2019-09-17: https://trump.fm/date/2019-09-17/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2019, September 17). I call for the Resignation of everybody at The... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "I call for the Resignation of everybody at The New York..." X (Twitter), 17 Sep. 2019. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "I call for the Resignation of everybody at The New York...," X (Twitter), September 17, 2019, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000. ## For agents - Site overview: https://trump.fm/llms.txt - API specification: https://trump.fm/openapi.json - MCP server: https://trump.fm/mcp (search and fetch tools, no auth) - This post as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/posts/x_1173728487162540000 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/x_1173728487162540000 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/x_1173728487162540000 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2019-09-17 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/x_1173728487162540000.md?analysis=false _Markdown view of a trump.fm page. Post, analysis, date, feed, contradictions, search and about pages answer in markdown at their URL with `.md` appended (`/index.md` for the home page), or when sent `Accept: text/markdown`._