Trump's narcissism is a national security issue

In private and in public, while devising policies and while crafting messages, Trump frequently draws flattering comparisons with his predecessor — and he does not let the truth intrude, as was the case Tuesday.

“I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts,” Trump tweeted.

The facts suggest the opposite.

  WaPo

They don't suggest the opposite; they prove it.

“For the president, it’s all about performance, and when you look at performances, it’s about comparison to other players, other competitors,” said Christopher Ruddy, a Trump friend and chief executive of Newsmax.

First of all, Trump has no friends. He has people who defend him. And it's not all about performance with Trump, because the guy doesn't do anything. Unless, by performance, you mean show.

“Who’s the guy everybody’s going to compare him to? His predecessor. He just gets that intuitively, as a business guy and a bottom-line guy.”

Also, and more instructively, Obama is nearest in his memory, and he hates Obama, both for how so many people adored Obama internationally, and because of Obama's race.

“He realizes the power of the hatred of Obama,” said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama White House aide who co-hosts the “Pod Save America” podcast. “I do think Trump just started showing up to rallies and riffing, and the things people liked the most became his policies. The go-to move became to attack Obama. That’s his greatest hit.”

[...]

The strategy also puts him back into campaign mode, a place where the self-described “counterpuncher” is most comfortable, echoing lines of attack that moved his most fervent supporters to cheers.

“If you watch Trump, he understands that there are two ways to be really tall, and one is to have your opponent be really short,” said Newt Gingrich, former House speaker and a Trump ally. “He spends a fair amount of his time shrinking his opponents.”

What other way does Trump try to be tall? Putting down other people is the only one I've seen. And I don't think you can call this "counterpunching" when Obama isn't punching.

Trump seizes upon every piece of economic data that he can find to try to portray his presidency as more financially enriching for voters, even though the U.S. economy has been growing for more than nine years and many experts — and voters — credit Obama for playing a role in that trend.

[...]

On some level, Trump’s disdain for Obama is visceral, said Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant and former political adviser. “He sees himself as being strong, decisive and bold, and he sees Obama as being weak and vacillating and tentative,” Stone said.

[...]

On the policy front, Trump has made undoing Obama-era achievements something of a North Star. His aides often couch legislative and regulatory ideas in terms of Obama, recognizing the president’s eagerness to undo his predecessor’s legacy.

His aides have to trick him to get anything from him. They use Obama to mold his opinions. They put his name all over reports that have few words and lots of pictures to get him to read; they put their people on Fox News so he'll take the bait. They try to be the last one he talks to before he makes statements. Some heads of state flatter and fête him. This is truly awful.