Let’s Talk About Egos!

In my piece about Trump’s “impending arrest” in the Mar. 28 issue, I said, “What Trump’s foes hoped would come from [an indictment] was a derailment of his presidential campaign. Given the strength of Trump’s ego and the passion of his fans, that doesn’t seem likely.”

“I’m no shrink,” SL wrote after reading it, “but it seems to me his ego is about as strong as an egg laid by a malnourished chicken. His characteristic bravado and bragging reflect a fragile ego. Don’t you think?”

SL makes an interesting point. Putting aside the clinical Freudian definition, when we, as laypeople, say, “He’s got a big ego,” we usually mean, “He thinks a lot of himself.” And when we say, “He has a fragile ego,” we mean, “He is excessively sensitive to criticism.”

Hmmm. That gives me an idea. It would be interesting to come up with one of those quadrants where we create four classifications of personalities based on those two ego factors: size (big vs. small) and strength (fragile vs. durable).

That would give us a quadrant that looks like this:

1. Big and Durable
2. Big and Fragile
3. Small and Durable
4. Small and Fragile

Thinking about Trump in these terms, I would put him in the first category. He certainly thinks a lot of himself. And he is amazingly insensitive to criticism. Can you think of any public person that has endured more? And has any of that made Trump cower or retreat? Quite the contrary, he feeds on it!

If you consider lashing back at your critics to be a form of weakness, I take your point. But whereas someone with a fragile ego might lash out initially, he/she would not make a daily meal of it. For, Trump, criticism is just another opportunity to see his name in the media. In other words, I don’t believe that lashing back comes from fragility, any more than I believe counterpunching is a fragile strategy in boxing. It’s just the way Trump plays the game. And I believe he thinks he is always winning.

Since SL and I are armchair-analyzing the man, let me throw this out – something I’ve been saying about Trump since The Apprentice days:

Trump’s primary personality characteristic is narcissism. And one of the defining features of narcissists is that, notwithstanding their constant drive to be the center of attention, they are indiscriminate about the sort of attention they get. For them, negative criticism is almost as good as positive criticism.

If you agree, let’s continue the conversation. If you think Trump belongs in a different box, make your case. At the same time, let’s take the opportunity to categorize other public figures about whom we know only the most publicized details. Not just politicians, but actors, athletes, etc.

Here are four to get you started…

* Jimmy Carter: Small and Durable

* Arnold Schwarzenegger: Big and Durable

* Will Smith: Big and Fragile

* Marilyn Monroe: Small and Fragile