# Post x_946724075157651457

- Post ID: `x_946724075157651457`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2017-12-29T12:46:23.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_946724075157651457
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_946724075157651457/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_946724075157651457.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> While the Fake News loves to talk about my so-called low approval rating, @foxandfriends just showed that my rating on Dec. 28, 2017, was approximately the same as President Obama on Dec. 28, 2009, which was 47%...and this despite massive negative Trump coverage & Russia hoax!

## Engagement

- Likes: 98,141
- Reposts: 23,173
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.383Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-13T19:21:09.498Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Posted at 07:46 EST from Mar-a-Lago, this authentic Trump tweet enacts a textbook narcissistic injury-repair sequence triggered by media coverage of his historically low approval ratings. The subject transitions within a single sentence from vulnerable self-positioning (persecuted by "Fake News") to grandiose recovery (claiming equivalence with Obama via a cherry-picked Rasmussen poll as aired on Fox & Friends). The Obama comparison is technically narrow — Rasmussen-to-Rasmussen it has some numerical basis, but the broader polling average showed Trump at ~37–39% versus Obama's ~49–50% in comparable periods, rendering the claim mostly false as presented. Defense mechanisms include pathological denial ("so-called low approval rating"), distortion (selective poll citation), rationalization (blaming "massive negative coverage"), and splitting (Fox = truth; all other media = Fake News). The reflexive "Russia hoax!" appendage is perseverative — appearing across multiple posts regardless of topical relevance, functioning as a conditioned grievance token. No cognitive deviation from 2017 baseline is evident; language is coherent and structurally intact though simple. Danger level is none. The post is clinically unremarkable as an isolated specimen but illustrates a durable regulatory pattern: Fox & Friends as morning narcissistic supply intake → Twitter as real-time broadcast to mass audience — a pipeline that would intensify throughout the presidency.

## Psychological Analysis: x_946724075157651457 (2017-12-29)

### Authorship Attribution
**Verdict: Authentic Trump — High Confidence**

Posted at **07:46 EST** (Mar-a-Lago, Florida; UTC−5), this falls squarely in Trump's documented early-morning Twitter window. The post references *Fox & Friends* directly — the program he was known to watch prior to official daily duties, and which regularly triggered reactive posting. Stylistic fingerprints are abundant: the run-on compound grievance structure, ellipsis as breath mark ("47%...and this despite"), the tacked-on "Russia hoax!" as a reflexive grievance appendage, and "so-called" as rhetorical minimizer. No professional communications operative would craft something this nakedly self-reassuring or structurally informal.

---

### Trigger Analysis
The precipitating trigger is a **narcissistic injury**: sustained media reporting on Trump's historically low approval ratings — at this point among the lowest for any first-year president in modern polling. The post opens in reactive posture ("While the Fake News loves to talk about..."), indicating the subject awoke already ruminating on this wound. Injury type is *unfavorable comparison* — to predecessors and to his own self-concept as a uniquely successful, admired president.

---

### Narcissistic Dynamics
The post enacts a classic **vulnerable → grandiose repair sequence** within a single sentence:

- **Vulnerable phase**: "so-called low approval rating," "massive negative Trump coverage" — self-positioning as persecuted victim of a dishonest press
- **Grandiose repair**: The Obama equivalence maneuver — claiming approximate parity with a predecessor whose approval ratings were objectively better received by the same media — attempts to recapture status. The comparison simultaneously elevates the subject (matching Obama) and attacks the media's framing (if Obama's 47% was not "low," neither is mine)
- **Exculpatory appendage**: "Russia hoax!" functions as a preemptive explanation for any residual shortfall — the subject is not underperforming; he is being sabotaged

The oscillation is textbook narcissistic regulation: wound → denial → compensatory elevation → blame externalization.

---

### Defense Mechanisms

1. **Denial (pathological)**: Characterizing well-documented, broad-consensus polling data as fabrication ("so-called low approval rating") — refusal to accept external reality
2. **Distortion (pathological)**: Selecting a single favorable outlier poll (Rasmussen, as featured on Fox) and presenting it as representative of "approval ratings" broadly — grossly reshaping reality to meet inner needs
3. **Rationalization (neurotic)**: Even granting a deficit, it is explained away by "massive negative coverage" — deflecting from performance to environment
4. **Projection (immature)**: Media is accused of distortion and bias while the post itself executes precisely the selective citation it attributes to others
5. **Splitting**: Fox & Friends = valid truth-teller; all other media = "Fake News" — clean all-good/all-bad bifurcation

---

### Rhetorical Analysis

- **False equivalence**: The Rasmussen poll skews Republican by approximately 5–7 points relative to polling averages. Using it to claim parity with Obama's broader numbers is methodologically inconsistent; the comparison is valid only if the same instrument is applied to both subjects over time, which is not established here
- **Whataboutism**: Obama is invoked not for policy relevance but purely as emotional deflection from the subject's own numbers
- **Appeal to partisan authority**: Fox & Friends is cited as the arbiter of polling truth — an explicitly ideologically aligned outlet elevated above independent polling aggregators
- **Minimization**: "so-called" delegitimizes the media framing before engaging the substance, priming the audience to discount the premise
- **DARVO (partial)**: Deny ("so-called"), Attack ("Fake News"), partial Reversal (subject is the real victim of "massive negative coverage")
- **Epistemic closure marker**: Fox's coverage is treated as corrective revelation rather than one data point among many; other sources are axiomatically invalid

---

### Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Trump's approval rating on Dec. 28, 2017 was approximately 47%" | **Half True** | Rasmussen Reports daily tracking showed Trump at approximately 46% in late December 2017. However, the RealClearPolitics polling average showed Trump at approximately 37-39% at this time. The claim is narrowly true for one favorable outlier poll but misrepresents the broader polling consensus. |
| "Obama's approval rating on Dec. 28, 2009 was 47%" | **Mostly True** | Rasmussen showed Obama at approximately 46-48% in late December 2009. Gallup showed Obama at approximately 50% at this time. The specific 47% figure has plausibility depending on exact date and instrument used. |
| "The comparison holds 'despite massive negative Trump coverage'" | **Half True** | Studies of media coverage in 2017 (e.g., Harvard Shorenstein Center) did show substantially higher negative coverage of Trump than Obama. However, this is presented as exculpatory for a polling comparison that is itself misleading — the claim's framing implies equivalence that the data does not support. |
| "Russia investigation is a 'hoax'" | **False** | The Mueller investigation ultimately produced 37 indictments, 7 guilty pleas/convictions, and documented multiple contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian nationals. Characterizing it as a 'hoax' is contradicted by the factual record of the investigation's outputs. |

Overall Veracity: 45%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 87%)

### Indicators

- 07:46 EST — early morning, within documented Trump Twitter window
- Direct Fox & Friends reference, consistent with morning viewing habit
- Stream-of-consciousness run-on compound sentence
- Ellipsis as breath/pause marker ('47%...and this despite')
- Reflexive 'Russia hoax!' appended as perseverative grievance token

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Mixed State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Comparison (Mainstream media coverage of historically low presidential approval ratings)

**Rage:** Intensity 35% targeting Mainstream media / 'Fake News'
- Proportionality: 30%

Sentiment: -0.25

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 75%
- Antisocial: 20%
- Paranoid: 45%
- Sadism: 10%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- denial (pathological)
- distortion (pathological)
- rationalization (neurotic)
- projection (immature)
- splitting (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 100%

Cognitive Markers:
- perseveration

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Inviting audience to share indignation at unfair media treatment
- Positioning Fox & Friends as shared trusted source, reinforcing in-group identity
- Framing Russia investigation as collective hoax perpetrated against both subject and his supporters

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- 'so-called low approval rating' — attacking the validity of broad polling consensus as media fabrication
- Framing Rasmussen cherry-pick as the definitive correction of 'Fake News' distortion
- 'Russia hoax' — characterizing an active federal investigation with documented outputs as manufactured

## Fact Checks (4)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-13._

> Trump's approval rating on Dec. 28, 2017 was approximately 47%

**HALF TRUE**

Rasmussen Reports daily tracking showed Trump at approximately 46% in late December 2017. However, the RealClearPolitics polling average showed Trump at approximately 37-39% at this time. The claim is narrowly true for one favorable outlier poll but misrepresents the broader polling consensus.

Sources: Rasmussen Reports daily tracking; RealClearPolitics polling average December 2017

> Obama's approval rating on Dec. 28, 2009 was 47%

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Rasmussen showed Obama at approximately 46-48% in late December 2009. Gallup showed Obama at approximately 50% at this time. The specific 47% figure has plausibility depending on exact date and instrument used.

Sources: Rasmussen Reports 2009 tracking; Gallup presidential approval historical data

> The comparison holds 'despite massive negative Trump coverage'

**HALF TRUE**

Studies of media coverage in 2017 (e.g., Harvard Shorenstein Center) did show substantially higher negative coverage of Trump than Obama. However, this is presented as exculpatory for a polling comparison that is itself misleading — the claim's framing implies equivalence that the data does not support.

Sources: Harvard Shorenstein Center Media Coverage Study 2017

> Russia investigation is a 'hoax'

**FALSE**

The Mueller investigation ultimately produced 37 indictments, 7 guilty pleas/convictions, and documented multiple contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian nationals. Characterizing it as a 'hoax' is contradicted by the factual record of the investigation's outputs.

Sources: Mueller Report April 2019; DOJ indictments 2017-2019

Overall Veracity: 45%

## Tags

- narcissistic-injury (90%)
- approval-ratings (85%)
- fox-and-friends (80%)
- fake-news (75%)
- obama-comparison (75%)
- whataboutism (70%)
- russia-investigation (65%)
- vulnerable-to-grandiose-oscillation (80%)
- supply-seeking (70%)
- epistemic-closure (75%)
- selective-citation (70%)
- mar-a-lago (50%)
- perseveration (40%)

## That day

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

**Holiday at Mar-a-Lago: Climate Trolling, Approval Anxiety, and DACA Ultimatums**

A quiet holiday Friday at Mar-a-Lago followed a familiar pattern: morning Fox News triggered a defensive comparison of his approval ratings to Obama's, followed by rapid-fire policy broadsides on Amazon and immigration. The day's most notable post used a regional cold snap to mock climate science -- playful trolling from a relaxed, dominant position. An ultimatum tying DACA protections to the border wall stood out as the most aggressive move, framing hundreds of thousands of young immigrants as negotiating chips ahead of January congressional talks.

Full digest for 2017-12-29: https://trump.fm/date/2017-12-29/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2017, December 29). While the Fake News loves to talk about my... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_946724075157651457
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "While the Fake News loves to talk about my so-called low..." X (Twitter), 29 Dec. 2017. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_946724075157651457. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "While the Fake News loves to talk about my so-called low...," X (Twitter), December 29, 2017, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_946724075157651457.

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