# Post x_898172999945392131

- Post ID: `x_898172999945392131`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2017-08-17T13:21:45.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_898172999945392131
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_898172999945392131/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_898172999945392131.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> ...the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!

## Engagement

- Likes: 113,707
- Reposts: 27,230
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.387Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-11T21:52:20.643Z (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 concluding tweet in a three-part Confederate monument defense thread represents a textbook case of narcissistic displacement during crisis. Posted the morning after Trump's widely condemned "both sides" press conference — and amid mass CEO defections from his advisory councils — the thread redirects attention from the actual crisis to the monument removal issue.

The most psychologically notable feature is the aesthetic reframing: calling Confederate monuments "beauty" strips them of political meaning and recasts their removal as cultural vandalism. The phrase "never able to be comparably replaced" introduces catastrophizing loss permanence, consistent with narcissistic injury processing.

The danger elevation stems from context: this thread implicitly validates the stated cause of the Unite the Right rally — monument preservation — just days after that rally turned deadly, killing Heather Heyer. While the post contains no direct incitement, defending the rally's nominal cause while a woman lies dead from rally-related violence sends a signal about which grievances the president considers legitimate.

The gaslighting dimension is significant: by framing Confederate monuments as apolitical beauty, the post erases the direct causal chain from monument-defense rallies to lethal white supremacist violence. This represents reality distortion in service of psychological defense — the alternative would require acknowledging that his "both sides" framing was inadequate, which the narcissistic structure cannot permit.

The vulnerable narcissistic state (grief, loss) rather than grandiose state is notable — suggesting the cumulative criticism was penetrating defenses.

## Analysis: Confederate Monument Removal Thread (Part 3/3)

This is the concluding tweet in a three-part thread defending Confederate monuments, posted the morning after Trump's infamous "both sides" press conference at Trump Tower. The thread sequence: "Sad to see the history and culture..." → "...can't change history...Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson?" → this post lamenting "the beauty that is being taken out."

### Context
Trump was at Bedminster, NJ. Posted at 9:21 AM ET — business hours, but the thread's emotional quality and ellipsis continuation suggest authentic composition. The three-part thread format was characteristic of Trump's pre-character-limit-expansion Twitter usage.

### Psychological Significance
This post is notable for its **aesthetic framing** of Confederate monuments — calling them "beauty" rather than defending their historical or political significance. This reframes the removal of symbols honoring the Confederacy as an act of cultural vandalism against art, a rhetorically sophisticated deflection from the actual controversy (white supremacist violence at a rally ostensibly about these same statues).

The phrase "never able to be comparably replaced" introduces **loss permanence** — an irreversibility claim designed to heighten urgency and grief. This is consistent with narcissistic injury processing: what is "mine" (our cities, our country) is being destroyed, and the loss is catastrophic and permanent.

### Defense Analysis
The entire three-part thread represents **displacement** — the real narcissistic injury is the massive CEO defections and bipartisan condemnation of his "both sides" remarks. Rather than addressing that crisis, he redirects to the monument issue, where he can position himself as a defender of culture rather than a figure under siege for inadequate moral leadership.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "The beauty being taken out will never be comparably replaced" | **Mostly False** | Many removed monuments have been relocated to museums or historical contexts rather than destroyed. The artistic merit claim is subjective, but many were mass-produced in the early 20th century, not unique artworks. |

Overall Veracity: 20%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 75%)

### Indicators

- Three-part ellipsis thread is classic Trump Twitter format
- Emotional/nostalgic tone
- Business hours posting (9:21 AM ET) suggests possible aide involvement
- But content is politically risky — aides would typically avoid doubling down on monuments during this crisis
- Grammatically coherent but stylistically Trump

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Vulnerable State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (Bipartisan condemnation of Charlottesville response, CEO defections from advisory councils)

Sentiment: -0.50

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 50%
- Antisocial: 30%
- Paranoid: 20%
- Sadism: 10%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- displacement (neurotic)
- rationalization (neurotic)
- denial (pathological)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 45%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Shared grief/loss framing
- Inclusive possessive ('our cities, towns and parks')

## Danger Assessment

**ELEVATED**

### Indicators

- Implicitly validates the stated cause of the Unite the Right rally (monument preservation) days after it turned deadly
- Frames monument removal as cultural destruction, potentially legitimizing resistance

### Gaslighting

- Reframes Confederate monuments as apolitical 'beauty' rather than contested symbols of the Confederacy
- Erases the connection between monument defense and the white supremacist rally that just killed Heather Heyer

## Fact Checks (1)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-11._

> The beauty being taken out will never be comparably replaced

**MOSTLY FALSE**

Many removed monuments have been relocated to museums or historical contexts rather than destroyed. The artistic merit claim is subjective, but many were mass-produced in the early 20th century, not unique artworks.

Sources: Southern Poverty Law Center monument documentation; Historical records of monument provenance

Overall Veracity: 20%

## Tags

- charlottesville_aftermath (100%)
- confederate_monuments (100%)
- displacement_defense (90%)
- aesthetic_reframing (80%)
- cultural_grievance (70%)

## That day

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

**Under Siege Over Charlottesville, Trump Mourns Statues Instead of the Dead**

Trump spent the day in full defensive mode from Bedminster, lashing out at critics of his Charlottesville response while refusing to back down. He attacked Lindsey Graham and Jeff Flake before sunrise, then pivoted to a three-part defense of Confederate monuments — mourning statues rather than acknowledging the woman killed at the rally. When the Barcelona terror attack offered a lifeline, he issued a standard condemnation but immediately followed it with a debunked myth about General Pershing executing Muslims, revealing that even genuine tragedy gets filtered through his need to project strongman dominance. The day's pattern was unmistakable: deflect, attack the messenger, double down.

Full digest for 2017-08-17: https://trump.fm/date/2017-08-17/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2017, August 17). ...the beauty that is being taken out of our... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_898172999945392131
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "...the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns..." X (Twitter), 17 Aug. 2017. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_898172999945392131. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "...the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns...," X (Twitter), August 17, 2017, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_898172999945392131.

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