The 1956 book When Prophecy Fails is a social psychology classic that examines the aftermath of the Chicago UFO religious group, the Seekers, who believed the world was about to end. The book’s authors study what the group members did when the apocalypse did not occur. It takes extraordinary mental tricks to recover after predicting the Earth’s demise. What did they say and do the next day?
The book also discusses how the UFO leaders convinced their followers to believe that spiritual beings called the Guardians and Sananda, a manifestation of Jesus, were sending them messages of wisdom. They also believed in an end-of-the-world event that would purify the Earth for the selected humans who would be rescued by a Guardian space ship.
As they say, history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme. History is filled with similar cults that convincingly asserted that something would happen or that they would never do something, only to discover that something did not happen or that they flip-flopped and did the thing they said they would never do. Some apocalyptic cults go up in flames or are convinced to take poison Kool-Aid, while others slink off into oblivion.
The most recent example of this cult-like behavior is Trump’s commitment to a massive, worldwide tariff program. He resolutely stated (behind the Resolute Desk) that he would unflinchingly assign tariffs to every country (except Russia) and even islands inhabited by penguins. Trump, his press secretary, and all his trade representatives were adamant that the Trump tariffs would be applied firmly without a pause or hesitation.
After the world’s stock markets collapsed and Asian countries rapidly sold US bonds, Trump suddenly did something he promised not to do: He blinked.
His announcement to pause his tariffs was couched in the language of a master deceiver, which will be discussed below.
Amanda Marcotte asserts that the 47th President is becoming like the Waco Cult leader David Koresh. Following his tariff defeat, she states:
“We’re getting a compelling illustration on the national stage of how a cult leader can induce his followers to stick by him, even as he loses his mind and his behavior becomes too erratic and dangerous to defend. Almost every Republican on Capitol Hill knows that Donald Trump’s tariff plan is political suicide, but few are willing to admit that Dear Leader fully intends to see this idiocy to the very end.”
“Trump has a messiah complex, which has only grown since that missed assassin’s bullet from July was hyped by his followers into ‘proof’ that he’s the Chosen One,” she wrote before suggesting, “Even as he blinks momentarily on his tariff mania, his behavior is getting even more erratic in a way that’s got ‘last days of Waco’ vibes from a president who has already unsubtly compared himself to David Koresh. His Truth Social meltdown when announcing the ‘pause’ indicates a decline in Trump’s already-fragile mental state.”
How can someone caught red-handed in a lie or failure turn the problem around? Trump’s primary mechanism is what psychologists call DARVO, which means “Deny, Attack, and then Reverse to become the Victim and turn the victim into the Offender.” DARVO is commonplace, especially with judicial nominees who must prove that they understand DARVO’s mechanics.
Trump is a master of DARVO, and I believe historians and psychologists will write many books about how he used it to create his MAGA cult. It has been his modus operandi all his life. Many books have already been written about Trump’s DARVO proclivities and dark, friendless personality, including one by his psychologist niece. One of Trump’s schoolmates said that he never had a close friend. He would be friendly with someone only if he could get something from that other person. He said he was transactional. He was nice to you if you were nice to him.
However, the world is not always “nice”, especially in ruthless New York City. Trump fell into a hyper-competitive pattern in which he tried to be the top dog. Unfortunately, there were always bigger and more successful dogs in New York City and around the world. He had failed marriages and many failed businesses, including three spectacular casino bankruptcies in New Jersey. His vanity led to irrational decisions, which created chaos and failure.
Finally, Trump found a way to succeed in the fantasy world he created for himself. On the television show The Apprentice, he became a faux business genius. He parlayed his television persona into a faux political genius, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Trump has established himself as the leader of one of the largest cults in human history. He received 49.8% of the popular vote in the 2024 election. Some portion of his voters will deny they voted for him or will assert that they did not vote for the tariff monster he became. However, the fact remains that he was elected President even though we all knew what type of person he was. To his credit, he does not hide the fact that he is a sociopath and uses DARVO unsparingly.
If anyone mentions one of Trump’s many disqualifications for political office, he strikes back immediately. He first denies the statement and then strikes back with ten times the ferocity. If someone says he doesn’t pay his fair share (or any) of taxes, he denies it and turns the tables on the accuser by claiming he is the victim of a “witch hunt” by his oppressors in the Deep State.
The MAGA Party, formerly known as the Republican Party, has become a cult that follows Trump’s path of transactional friendlessness. MAGA enables Trump to live out his fantasy life that began with The Apprentice.
Unfortunately, the rest of us live in the real world. America once had unconditional friends and worldwide respect, but we suddenly became a rogue nation. Moreover, we are beginning to hate ourselves.
Trump is pathetic. The word pathetic comes from the Greek word pathos, meaning “sick”. When a pathologist examines a deceased body or tissue sample, he or she is trying to determine what caused that tissue to be abnormal or sick. According to Webster’s dictionary, pathos is an emotion of sympathetic pity. Whether Trump is sick, abnormal, or somehow deserving pity depends on your perspective. Whether he has a genetic deficiency where he cannot show concern for fellow humans (unless he is being paid or given favor), or maybe he was just conditioned by his father to be a “killer” as he has often bragged, he is lacking a vital human characteristic, the ability to be empathetic. My conclusion would be that he is definitely sick, possibly has a genetic abnormality, definitely was misguided by his father, and is consciously a cruel individual. I definitely have no sympathy for him, but do feel pity for people who have to interact with him directly and all of us whose lives he has affected negatively.