# Post x_898254409511129088

- Post ID: `x_898254409511129088`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2017-08-17T18:45:14.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_898254409511129088
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_898254409511129088/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_898254409511129088.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!

## Engagement

- Likes: 110,455
- Reposts: 30,534
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.387Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-11T21:53:33.436Z (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 tweet, posted during the acute Charlottesville backlash, represents a textbook displacement defense: Trump redirects aggression from domestic critics (CEOs, bipartisan leaders, media) toward Islamic terrorists via a fabricated historical narrative about General Pershing. The apocryphal story—that Pershing dipped bullets in pig's blood and executed Muslim prisoners, ending terrorism for 35 years—is thoroughly debunked by historians. Trump has repeated it since 2016 campaign rallies, making this deliberate myth-making rather than spontaneous confabulation.

The psychological function is multifold: (1) deflection from narcissistic injury, (2) reassertion of strongman identity through endorsement of brutal decisive action, (3) news cycle disruption forcing media to cover new outrage, and (4) base signaling with a known applause line. The implicit endorsement of extrajudicial execution and collective punishment—framed as effective policy through the enthymeme "Study what he did [implication: we should do the same]"—elevates the danger assessment.

The timing (same day as Barcelona attack) provides surface justification, but the primary driver is the sustained narcissistic injury from Charlottesville fallout. This pattern—pivoting to provocative foreign policy posturing when under domestic pressure—is a recurring Trump behavioral signature. The grandiose narcissistic state is evident in the authoritative imperative tone and the fantasy of leadership through overwhelming force.

## Analysis: "General Pershing" Tweet (2017-08-17)

### Context
This tweet was posted the same day as the Barcelona terror attack and amid the ongoing Charlottesville fallout. Trump references the apocryphal story that General Pershing dipped bullets in pig's blood before executing Muslim insurgents in the Philippines—a tale Trump repeatedly told during the 2016 campaign. The story is historically false; Pershing did not summarily execute prisoners with pig-blood-dipped bullets, and "35 years of no terror" is fabricated.

### Timing & Authorship
Posted at 2:45 PM ET (Trump was at Trump Tower, NYC). Business-hours posting. However, the impulsive content, historical distortion, and lack of polish suggest authentic Trump despite the timing. The tweet functions as a deflection from Charlottesville pressure—classic Trump pattern of introducing a new controversy to shift news cycles.

### Psychological Analysis
The post arrives during an intense period of narcissistic injury: CEO defections, bipartisan criticism, media condemnation over "both sides." Rather than continuing to defend the Charlottesville remarks, Trump pivots to an entirely different topic (Barcelona attack) and uses it to invoke gratuitous violence against Muslims. This is **displacement**—redirecting aggression from the actual source of injury (domestic critics) toward an external enemy.

The invocation of Pershing carries implicit endorsement of extrajudicial killing and war crimes. The command form ("Study what...") positions Trump as educator/authority while the content advocates brutality as effective counterterrorism.

### Rhetorical Function
The Pershing myth serves multiple purposes simultaneously:
1. **News cycle disruption** — forces media to cover a new outrage
2. **Base signaling** — the story is a known applause line from rallies
3. **Strongman positioning** — implicit "I would do what Pershing did"
4. **Deflection** — shifts from defending white supremacists to attacking Islamic terrorism

### Danger Assessment
The post implicitly endorses summary execution of prisoners and collective punishment. The imperative "Study what General Pershing...did" is a thinly veiled endorsement of war crimes as policy. Combined with the dehumanizing framing, this constitutes elevated danger rhetoric.

### Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "General Pershing executed terrorists using pig-blood-dipped bullets, ending radical Islamic terror for 35 years" | **False** | No credible historical evidence supports this story. Pershing dealt with Moro insurgents in the Philippines but did not conduct mass executions with pig-blood bullets. Moro resistance continued after his tenure. The story has been repeatedly debunked by historians and fact-checkers. |

Overall Veracity: 0%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 85%)

### Indicators

- Repeats known rally talking point verbatim
- Historically false claim he has told many times
- Imperative/commanding tone
- No polish or nuance
- Serves impulsive deflection purpose

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (Charlottesville backlash, CEO defections, bipartisan criticism)

**Rage:** Intensity 60% targeting Islamic terrorists (displaced from domestic critics)
- Proportionality: 30%

Sentiment: -0.40

**Mildly Hypomanic**
- Multiple provocative tweets in single day across different controversies
- Impulsive escalation during crisis

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 70%
- Antisocial: 70%
- Paranoid: 30%
- Sadism: 70%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- displacement (neurotic)
- distortion (pathological)
- acting out (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 30%

Cognitive Markers:
- confabulation

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Strongman positioning
- Shared enemy construction
- Implicit violence endorsement as strength

## Danger Assessment

**ELEVATED**

### Indicators

- Implicit endorsement of extrajudicial killing
- Endorsement of collective punishment
- Violent imagery presented approvingly
- War crimes framed as effective policy

**Violent Imagery Present**

## Fact Checks (1)

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

> General Pershing executed terrorists using pig-blood-dipped bullets, ending radical Islamic terror for 35 years

**FALSE**

No credible historical evidence supports this story. Pershing dealt with Moro insurgents in the Philippines but did not conduct mass executions with pig-blood bullets. Moro resistance continued after his tenure. The story has been repeatedly debunked by historians and fact-checkers.

Sources: PolitiFact; Snopes; Historical record of Philippine-American War

Overall Veracity: 0%

## Tags

- displacement (90%)
- historical_fabrication (95%)
- violence_endorsement (70%)
- charlottesville_deflection (85%)
- barcelona_attack (50%)
- strongman_fantasy (80%)

## 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). Study what General Pershing of the United States... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_898254409511129088
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Study what General Pershing of the United States did to..." X (Twitter), 17 Aug. 2017. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_898254409511129088. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Study what General Pershing of the United States did to...," X (Twitter), August 17, 2017, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_898254409511129088.

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