# Post x_368107404455452672 - Post ID: `x_368107404455452672` - Platform: X (Twitter) - Posted: 2013-08-15T20:30:18.000Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_368107404455452672.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > “Good communicators control space.” – Roger Ailes, ‘You Are The Message,’@FoxNews ## Engagement - Likes: 10 - Reposts: 22 - Replies: 0 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.284Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-23T02:04:51.016Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._ # Post Analysis: August 15, 2013 — Roger Ailes Quote ## Overview This post is a curated aphorism from Roger Ailes's 1988 communication strategy book *You Are the Message*, punctuated with a deliberate @FoxNews tag. At face value, it is a low-intensity, professionally formatted quote post. Its psychological and strategic significance lies almost entirely in *selection* and *framing* rather than in any explicit rhetorical content. --- ## Authorship Attribution **Confidence: Low | Score: 0.35 (leans aide)** **UTC 20:30 → EDT 4:30 PM** — solidly within business hours, a mild aide indicator. The post is correctly formatted with no typos, stream-of-consciousness drift, or characteristic emotional discharge. The @FoxNews tag reads as strategic media coordination more consistent with a staff touch. However, the same-day posting record complicates the picture significantly: surrounding posts include authentic Trump hallmarks — a parenthetical aside ("Thx (I think)"), all-caps Benghazi agitation ("THERE IS A MASSIVE COVERUP"), and terse fan acknowledgments — indicating Trump was personally active on the account throughout the day. The Ailes quote may have been self-posted by Trump who had absorbed the book, or prompted by Trump and cleanly formatted by a communications aide. The signal is genuinely ambiguous. --- ## Level 1: Dispositional Traits (Big Five) The choice of this specific quote — "Good communicators *control space*" — rather than any communion-oriented alternative from Ailes's text (warmth, listening, connection) is diagnostically informative. The emphasis is entirely on *dominance* (control) and *territory* (space). This maps to: - **Extraversion** (high): Assertiveness and excitement-seeking framing of communication as performance and conquest - **Agreeableness** (low): Communication conceived as control rather than cooperation or empathy - **Openness** (low-moderate): Consumption of a foundational media strategy text, but the takeaway is tactical rather than conceptual No acute neuroticism or impulsivity visible in this post. --- ## Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations **Dominant motive: Power (Agency)** The selection of "control space" as the signal phrase reveals Trump's core agentic schema operating even in a low-stakes maintenance post. Communication is conceived instrumentally, as a vehicle for territorial dominance. This is fully consistent with his broader dispositional profile. Communion motives (intimacy, belonging, care) are entirely absent. The Fox News tag is not required for attribution — it is *strategic*. It signals in-group affiliation with the dominant right-wing media architecture and publicly reinforces a relationship that would become essential infrastructure for his 2016 campaign. --- ## Level 3: Narrative Identity **Protagonist role:** Sophisticated media insider who has absorbed the foundational texts of communication strategy and operates at the level of elite architects. **Identity claim:** "I understand communication as power, and I associate with the people who built the media machine." **Contrasting other** (implicit): Poor communicators — those who cede space, yield ground, fail to project presence and dominance. **Narrative sequence:** Neutral — no redemption or contamination arc present. This is identity *positioning* rather than storytelling. --- ## Level 4: Clinical Indicators No acute clinical patterns are engaged in this post. Grandiosity is expressed through elite association (Ailes, Fox News) rather than direct self-aggrandizement. No narcissistic rage, no paranoid ideation, no splitting or devaluation. **Malignant narcissism sub-components:** - Narcissistic features: minimal (0.15/1.0) — very mild through elite association only - Antisocial features: 0 - Paranoid features: 0 - Sadism: 0 --- ## Defense Mechanisms **Rationalization (neurotic):** The academic book citation lends intellectual respectability to a statement that is fundamentally about dominance. The defense here is mild and may not be fully conscious. **Idealization (immature):** Ailes presented as unqualified authority figure. No complexity or critique accompanies the attribution. --- ## Rhetorical Analysis The post is rhetorically understated. Key techniques: - **Appeal to authority:** Ailes as established communication expert; Fox News as institutional validator - **Aphorism for memetic spread:** Laconic, quotable, memorable — optimized for retweet - **Meta-communication:** A post *about* communication strategy that simultaneously *enacts* communication strategy (elite association, dominance framing) - **Strategic alliance signaling:** The @FoxNews tag is performative — it displays the relationship rather than being necessary for attribution No propaganda techniques, dehumanizing language, or violent imagery present. --- ## Gaslighting / Reality Distortion None present. --- ## Cognitive Assessment The post consists of a single curated sentence and is not informative for cognitive assessment. Syntactic complexity and vocabulary cannot be evaluated. Not a meaningful longitudinal data point for cognitive tracking. --- ## Danger Assessment **None.** No eliminationist language, mobilization cues, or threat escalation patterns. --- ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "Roger Ailes authored 'You Are the Message'" | **True** | Published 1988, co-authored with Jon Kraushar. Standard broadcast communication training text. | | "The quoted phrase 'Good communicators control space' appears in the book" | **Unverifiable** | Consistent with Ailes's documented communication philosophy but specific phrase attribution cannot be confirmed from available context. | Overall Veracity: 75% ## Longitudinal Context The same-day posting record reveals Trump oscillating between purely reactive, emotionally-driven posts (all-caps Benghazi demands, terse fan acknowledgments) and this more composed, strategically calibrated quote post. The contrast is consistent with documented patterns of reactive authentic posting punctuated by strategic media-management posts, the latter sometimes staff-assisted. The Fox News relationship cultivation visible here in August 2013 represents an early marker of the infrastructure Trump would activate for 2016. This post is more significant as an *archival* data point about that alliance-building than as a psychological specimen in isolation. --- ## Summary Not clinically significant. No deviation from baseline warranting a clinical summary. ## Authorship Analysis **Uncertain** (score: 35%) ### Indicators - Business hours timing (4:30 PM EDT) is a mild aide indicator - Post is correctly formatted with no typos, emotional discharge, or ALL CAPS - Fox News @ tag suggests strategic media coordination consistent with staff involvement - Surrounding same-day posts show clearly authentic Trump voice including parenthetical humor and all-caps political demands - Simple quote copy-paste is within Trump's documented self-posting behavior ## Psychological Profile ### State **Grandiose State** **Trigger:** Maintenance (Routine brand-building and Fox News alliance cultivation in pre-2016 positioning period) Sentiment: +0.10 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 15% - Antisocial: 0% - Paranoid: 0% - Sadism: 0% **Defense Mechanisms:** - rationalization (neurotic) - idealization (immature) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 10% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Aspirational alignment with elite media strategist - Strategic authority association to signal communication competence ## Fact Checks (2) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-23._ > Roger Ailes authored 'You Are the Message' **TRUE** Published 1988, co-authored with Jon Kraushar. Standard broadcast communication training text. Sources: General knowledge — publishing record > The quoted phrase 'Good communicators control space' appears in the book **UNVERIFIABLE** Consistent with Ailes's documented communication philosophy but specific phrase attribution cannot be confirmed from available context. Overall Veracity: 75% ## Tags - fox-news-alliance (70%) - roger-ailes (80%) - power-motive (60%) - brand-maintenance (60%) - pre-2016-positioning (50%) - communication-as-dominance (70%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Pre-Candidate Trump Spends a Placid Summer Day Collecting Flattery and Testing Presidential Messaging** A busy but emotionally flat day of Twitter activity, almost entirely spent retweeting fan praise, thanking followers, and promoting his brand. The closest thing to a policy agenda appeared in bursts — demanding a Benghazi committee, mocking Obama, and answering a hypothetical about his first act as president ("Terminate Obamacare!"). Two minor flashes of irritation surfaced: one at a user who called his presidential ambitions a publicity stunt, and another in his long-running feud with Scotland's leader over wind turbines near his golf course. Overall, the day reads as a contented man auditioning for a political role he hadn't yet committed to. Full digest for 2013-08-15: https://trump.fm/date/2013-08-15/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2013, August 15). “Good communicators control space.” – Roger... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "“Good communicators control space.” – Roger Ailes, ‘You Are..." X (Twitter), 15 Aug. 2013. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "“Good communicators control space.” – Roger Ailes, ‘You Are...," X (Twitter), August 15, 2013, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672. ## 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_368107404455452672 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/x_368107404455452672 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/x_368107404455452672 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2013-08-15 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/x_368107404455452672.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`._