Donald Trump: Bully, Coward and Traitor

Any soothsayer will tell you that there is no pleasure in seeing negative predictions come true. I’m no oracle, but it’s been frighteningly clear to me from observable data and research just how predictable Donald Trump’s bullying behavior is. As I discuss in my book, From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire, a bully who has gained power will do anything and everything to hold onto it. This latest episode with the firing of FBI Director James Comey continues to prove this. It comes as no surprise that this action was taken just days after Comey requested a significant increase in resources to further the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election, according to the New York Times. Or that there were reports that he had grown outraged over the probes in to Russia.

It’s all very predictable. Trump continues to reveal himself as a bully, a coward in his dealings with subordinates (especially the firing of Comey and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates), and a traitor. It doesn’t take a forensic investigator to figure out that Trump is in deep with Russia. Today Trump welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov into the Oval Office. The photos of their meeting were released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, not the White House.

In Congress, Democrats—and just three Republicans—are demanding a special prosecutor or independent investigation, in order to get to the bottom of Trump’s Russian ties. Meanwhile, a whopping 57 members of the GOP are neutral or even supportive of eliminating Comey and have nothing to say about investigating Russia. I would like to remind them of the need for checks and balances against the executive branch. They remind me of the character Seymour in the horror comedy Little Shop of Horrors who kept feeding the monstrous plant Audrey II the blood it craved never realizing that one day, Audrey would try to eat him, too. Beware feeding the bully: his hunger is insatiable and he doesn’t care whom he consumes.  

Photo credit: Little Shop of Horrors

The Bully-in-Chief Up Against a Wall

In today’s New York Times article “Pause This Presidency,” columnist Charles M. Blow makes a compelling argument for putting the Trump administration on hold when he writes,

“The American people must immediately demand a cessation of all consequential actions by this ‘president’ until we can be assured that Russian efforts to hack our election, in a way that was clearly meant to help him and damage his opponent, did not also include collusion with or coverup by anyone involved in the Trump campaign and now administration.”

As an expert in human dynamics and adult bullying it has been my observation that bullies are masters at manipulation, deception, deceit and denial, and are in many cases—delusional. What we woke to on Saturday morning was all of these and more on public display by the current president as he tweeted his newest conspiracy theory about his predecessor.

The application of those nefarious traits by the Bully-in-Chief confirms for me the possibility of a cover-up of immense proportions.  In my January 13 post, “Predicting What Trump Will Do Next,” I wrote that bullies are particularly dangerous when their back is against the wall. This is because they will do anything to maintain power and control. Clearly this tweet was a stab in that direction.

But the danger isn’t over. I predict that Trump will willingly abuse the presidency up to, and including, martial law if he feels threatened.  According to a CNN/ORC poll, 65 percent of Americans say an independent special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate Russia’s involvement in the election. This should be heeded—and fast! This is a serious case of obfuscation that will lead to more devastating actions if left uninvestigated. I don’t wish to be an alarmist, but having researched hundreds of cases of adult bullying, I have witnessed how bullies take drastic measures when their backs are against the wall.

Can we really afford to wait any longer?

Andrew Faas is the author of From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons