# Post x_682227816394522624 - Post ID: `x_682227816394522624` - Platform: X (Twitter) - Posted: 2015-12-30T15:52:41.000Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_682227816394522624.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > I never thought I'd be saying this but I've really enjoyed @RichLowry on television lately, and he was terrific hosting @seanhannity ## Engagement - Likes: 3,279 - Reposts: 912 - Replies: 0 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.337Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-09T08:55:37.748Z (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 praises Rich Lowry (National Review editor), notable because Trump publicly demanded Lowry be fired from Fox News approximately three months earlier after Lowry's disparaging on-air comments. The opener — "I never thought I'd be saying this" — functions as face-saving rationalization, reframing the reversal as earned deference rather than capitulation. The post's primary clinical interest lies in its same-day juxtaposition with vicious attacks on the Union Leader ("dying newspaper," "loser") — simultaneous idealization of Lowry and devaluation of McQuaid/Union Leader, sorted purely by current stance toward Trump. This splitting pattern — instantaneous reclassification of objects from all-bad to all-good or vice versa based on a single criterion (present utility) — is consistent with the narcissistic relational schema observed across Trump's posting history. The post enacts transactional supply-seeking: Lowry has apparently provided favorable coverage, and Trump rewards this with public praise that simultaneously centers himself as the authority whose endorsement is newsworthy. Authorship is ambiguous — business-hours timing and clean grammar lean aide-authored, but the confessional opener has an authentic Trumpian quality. Overall low intensity with no danger indicators; clinically significant primarily as a clear instantiation of the splitting dynamic when read in same-day context. # Psychological Analysis: Trump Twitter Post — 2015-12-30 ## Overview This brief, positively-toned post praises Rich Lowry (National Review editor) and Sean Hannity. On its surface it is unremarkable. Its clinical interest lies in its backstory and in the stark contrast with same-day posts attacking the Union Leader. --- ## Authorship Attribution **UTC 15:52:41 → ~10:52 AM EST** (Trump was most likely at Mar-a-Lago or Trump Tower for the Christmas holiday period). Business hours timing plus clean grammar and no typos push toward aide involvement. However, the confessional opener — "I never thought I'd be saying this" — carries an idiosyncratically personal quality that aides typically avoid. Most likely scenario: aide polish on an authentic Trump idea or rough draft. **Confidence: low.** --- ## Historical Context (Critical for Interpretation) In September 2015, Rich Lowry appeared on Fox News and made a notably crude remark suggesting Carly Fiorina had humiliated Trump in a debate, prompting Trump to publicly call for Lowry to be fired from Fox. This post — approximately 3 months later — represents a public thaw, presumably after Lowry provided coverage Trump found favorable. The opener "I never thought I'd be saying this" implicitly acknowledges this prior conflict while reframing the reversal as earned deference rather than capitulation. --- ## Level 1: Dispositional Traits (Big Five) | Trait | Direction | Evidence | |---|---|---| | **Extraversion** | ↑ | Public social engagement, name-dropping | | **Agreeableness** | ↑ (rare) | Rare public acknowledgment of prior adversary | | **Neuroticism** | ↓ | No hostility, no defensiveness | | **Conscientiousness** | Neutral | Brief, task-complete | | **Openness** | Slight ↑ | Acknowledging a change of opinion | **Dominant facet:** Extraversion — assertive social positioning in the conservative media ecosystem. --- ## Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations - **Agency motive (power/status):** Moderate. Praising Lowry signals Trump's capacity to grant or withhold approval — positioning himself as the arbiter of media legitimacy within the conservative sphere. - **Schemas:** Others are instrumentally valued. Lowry moves from enemy to ally upon providing favorable coverage, confirming a transactional relational schema. --- ## Level 3: Narrative Identity - **Protagonist role:** Magnanimous winner — capable of reconsidering and rewarding those who earn his approval. - **Sequence:** Implicit contamination-to-redemption: Lowry was a villain (September 2015), now redeemed through favorable coverage. - **Identity claim:** "I am fair and can change my mind when warranted" — a rare narrative posture for Trump, likely tactical. - **Contrasting other:** Implicit: the Union Leader (attacked in same-day posts) = irredeemable enemy; Lowry = reformable ally. --- ## Level 4: Narcissistic Dynamics **Trigger:** Supply-seeking. Lowry has apparently provided positive coverage; this post rewards and amplifies it. **State:** Mildly grandiose. Trump's endorsement is framed as significant — "I've really enjoyed" positions his opinion as newsworthy. The praise centers Trump as the evaluator, not Lowry as the subject. **Key defense — Rationalization (neurotic):** "I never thought I'd be saying this" is a face-saving rationalization of the reversal. It preserves Trump's narrative of consistency by framing the change as Lowry earning approval rather than Trump softening a prior position under social pressure. **Key defense — Idealization (immature):** Lowry shifts from object of contempt to "terrific" with no intermediate gradations. This black-and-white toggling is characteristic of splitting: the object is reclassified wholesale based on current relational alignment. --- ## Splitting Dynamics (Same-Day Context) The most clinically significant feature of this post is what surrounds it. On the same day, Trump posted: > *"The dying @UnionLeader newspaper in NH is in turmoil... like a bully that got knocked out!"* > *"Joe McQuaid... is desperately trying to sell the @UnionLeader. It's a loser."* Simultaneous **idealization** (Lowry = "terrific") and **devaluation** (McQuaid = "loser," paper = "dying") on the same day, directed at two media figures, distinguished only by their current stance toward Trump, is textbook splitting. This is not a post-hoc rationalization — it is real-time object sorting based on a single criterion: does this person serve my interests? --- ## Cognitive Assessment No indicators of cognitive disruption. The sentence is grammatically complete, logically coherent, and contextually appropriate. Baseline deviation: none. --- ## Danger Assessment **None.** The post is conciliatory in tone with no hostile, eliminationist, or mobilizing rhetoric. --- ## Summary Clinically, this post's interest lies almost entirely in its context. Trump is publicly praising Rich Lowry — a figure he publicly attacked and sought to have fired three months prior. The opener "I never thought I'd be saying this" is a rare concession to prior inconsistency, almost certainly deployed to make the reversal appear earned rather than transactional. When read against same-day attacks on the Union Leader, a clear splitting pattern emerges: media figures are sorted into all-good (those providing favorable coverage) or all-bad (those providing critical coverage) with no intermediate gradations. This is consistent with the characteristic narcissistic relational schema observed throughout Trump's social media activity — the object world is populated by allies and enemies, and movement between categories is determined solely by current utility. The post itself is low-intensity and carries no danger indicators. ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "Rich Lowry hosted Sean Hannity's show" | **Unverifiable** | No specific record in provided context of Lowry guest-hosting Hannity's Fox News program around late December 2015. Lowry was a regular Fox News contributor and pundit during this period, making a guest-hosting appearance plausible but not confirmable from available information. | | "Trump enjoyed Lowry on television 'lately'" | **Unverifiable** | Subjective claim about Trump's private viewing experience; unverifiable by definition, though the public posting of it is documented. | Overall Veracity: 50% ## Authorship Analysis **Uncertain** (score: 55%) ### Indicators - Conversational, self-aware opener ('I never thought I'd be saying this') is atypically reflective but stylistically plausible for authentic Trump - UTC 15:52 converts to ~10:52 AM EST (Trump was likely at Mar-a-Lago or NYC for the holidays) — business hours, which leans aide-authored - No typos, clean grammar, and polished structure also suggest aide involvement - However, the personal acknowledgment of a prior adversarial dynamic and the casual 'I've really enjoyed' phrasing carry authentic Trump's voice — aides typically avoid this kind of confessional framing ## Psychological Profile ### State **Grandiose State** **Trigger:** Supply Seeking (Rich Lowry (National Review editor, former critic turned apparent favorable coverage provider)) Sentiment: +0.72 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 35% - Antisocial: 5% - Paranoid: 5% - Sadism: 0% **Defense Mechanisms:** - rationalization (neurotic) - idealization (immature) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 35% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Public endorsement used to signal approval to the target's audience - Name-dropping of Hannity (@seanhannity) to associate with established friendly media validator ## Fact Checks (2) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-09._ > Rich Lowry hosted Sean Hannity's show **UNVERIFIABLE** No specific record in provided context of Lowry guest-hosting Hannity's Fox News program around late December 2015. Lowry was a regular Fox News contributor and pundit during this period, making a guest-hosting appearance plausible but not confirmable from available information. > Trump enjoyed Lowry on television 'lately' **UNVERIFIABLE** Subjective claim about Trump's private viewing experience; unverifiable by definition, though the public posting of it is documented. Overall Veracity: 50% ## Tags - splitting (85%) - idealization (75%) - transactional_relationships (80%) - supply_seeking (65%) - conservative_media_alliance (70%) - reversal_of_prior_attack (75%) - rationalization (60%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Campaign Trail Grandiosity With a Sustained Union Leader Vendetta** Trump barnstormed from Iowa to Florida to South Carolina, posting throughout with the energy of a candidate riding high in the polls. The dominant mood was self-congratulatory, with rally thank-yous, retweets of fan praise, and a plug for his Fox News New Year's Eve appearance. The one sharp edge was an ongoing feud with the New Hampshire Union Leader and its publisher Joe McQuaid -- five separate posts across the day called the paper "dying" and McQuaid "dumb" and corrupt, all triggered by the paper's endorsement of Chris Christie. A brief, almost confessional compliment to Rich Lowry -- a former target -- stood out as an odd grace note amid the otherwise combative media posture. Full digest for 2015-12-30: https://trump.fm/date/2015-12-30/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2015, December 30). I never thought I'd be saying this but I've... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "I never thought I'd be saying this but I've really enjoyed..." X (Twitter), 30 Dec. 2015. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "I never thought I'd be saying this but I've really enjoyed...," X (Twitter), December 30, 2015, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624. ## 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_682227816394522624 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/x_682227816394522624 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/x_682227816394522624 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2015-12-30 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/x_682227816394522624.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`._