It is unacceptable to arrogantly ignore shared experience and to self-servingly assume that citizens do not see the obvious—your failure to keep your promises
The pathological narcissist’s fear is losing—defeat shatters his fragile self-image. He likes to take credit for success and deny responsibility for failure. Trump’s most common derogatory label for those he dislikes is “loser.” To him, losing constitutes a moral failing.
After the crushing defeat on November 3, 2026, Trump now belongs among the “losers.” His egotism, of course, prevents him from accepting this. Under the false impression that he still held sway over the electorate, he had called on voters to “pretend he’s a candidate” (October 5, 2026—according to the Washington Post, he repeated this call 63 times!), so that they would vote for his chosen candidates in the midterm elections. He was pointedly ignored: his favorites lost, and his party suffered a crushing defeat.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Don’t take it personally, Donald
Inflation: The death of governments
His reaction? Classic Trump: “It’s not a personal blow. […] If I had been a candidate, I would have won in a landslide” (November 4, 2026). In Trump-speak: Does my party win? It’s thanks to me. Does it lose? That’s its own fault. The pathological narcissist takes credit only for victories; he never takes the blame for defeats.
Trump has learned to make such self-serving “deals” throughout his life. The most important “deal” is with himself: from positions of power, he derives satisfaction by cultivating delusions of grandeur. Consequently, he struggles to distinguish reality from fantasy. The resounding slap in the face he received from the electorate was (also) epistemological: it is unacceptable to arrogantly ignore shared experience and to self-servingly assume that citizens do not see the obvious—your failure to keep your promises.
Trump inherited financial power through the family business. As a demagogic (and at times vulgar) television personality, he gained media power. The presidency led him to view himself as a sort of Caesar. He learned to thrive on flattery in bubble-like environments. Shaped by experiences of unquestionable power, he developed a penchant for authoritarian fantasies. He thinks he can mold the world to his own specifications! “I will put an immediate end to inflation” (7/18/24). “Energy and electricity prices will be cut in half within 12 months” (9/8/24). “I will end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours” (2/1/23). “We have won the war with Iran” (3/24/26). He was spectacularly proven wrong on every count.
The electorate corrected Trump’s narcissistic self-absorption—his detachment from common sense. He denied that inflation and high energy prices were a major social problem. “The word ‘affordability’ [affordable cost of living] is a Democratic scam” (12/2/25). “Tariffs did not cause inflation” (1/10/26). “Everyone tells me that the war [in Iran] is unpopular, but I think it’s popular” (5/19/26).
The electoral defeat was a personal one. His aura of leadership faded. His political capital was depleted. Democracy, at last, corrected itself. On November 3, the post-Trump era began.
Mr. Charidimos Tsoukas (www.htsoukas.com) is a professor at the University of Cyprus, a research professor at the University of Warwick, and a member of the Cypriot and British Academies
