Trump's TikTok Flip-Flop Exposes (yet again) His Unfitness for the Presidency....
Trump’s narcissistic greed/selfishness…along with his pathological need to be “liked”…make him an easily manipulated adversary.
Regardless of whether Trump was bought off by Tik Tok investors/donors…
....or driven by his need for narcissistic supply from "young" users...
….Trump’s narcissism compromised him, and once again exposed his unfitness to be president.
Let’s unpack the Tik Tok flip-flop….
First, a refresher on Tik Tok:
In 2024, Gregg Hurwitz, Gretchen Barton, and the Worthy Strategy Group analyzed how China/Russian/Iran were manipulating young Americans to hate the U.S...
...as analyzed here:
Now, a refresher on Trump’s Cluster B personality disorders, and some of the many ways his disorders compromise his ability to lead:
During the campaign, I posted analysis from 2019 describing Trump’s decision-making process:
This erratic, impulsive, decision-making process...
....which was likely a vindictive, emotionally reactive “payback” for Biden’s preemptive political pardons of people who had “wronged” Trump….
....was once again exposed with his blanket pardons for January 6th:
But perhaps more relevant…..and dangerous…..
.....is the ease with which Trump can be manipulated….
...at the expense of national security.
Again, 2019 analysis:
With the above analysis of Trump’s pathological vulnerabilities in mind, let’s dissect the timeline of Trump’s Tik Tok flip flop:
1) In June, 2020, young Tik Tok users trolled then-president Trump:
Without any intention of showing up, they reserved 1 million tickets for a 19,000 seat stadium…..only 6200 people attended. Trump was humiliated/irate.
2) In July, 2020, Trump declared that he was banning Tik Tok because it was a national security threat:
3) In March of 2024, Trump meets with Jeff Yass, who among many holdings, owns 15% of Tik Tok (about $30-$40 billion).
4) After the meeting, one of Yass’ other companies merges with Trump Media (Truth Social).
Trump makes between $3-$4 billion in the deal…....and suddenly no longer wants to ban Tik Tok….
5) Also in March of 2024, Trump stated that he still believed that Tik Tok was a national security threat....
.....but that he didn’t support the Tik Tok ban because it would benefit Facebook....
.....and Facebook/Zuckerberg was an “enemy of the people”.
So either….
....Trump was mad at Mark Zuckerberg, and his grievance against Zuckerberg took priority over national security....
....or Trump was bought off by Yass and Trump’s self interest took priority over nation security….
....or both.
6) In August of 2024...
....Trump appears on FOXNews and gives a rambling, child-like interview where he gushes about how much Zuckerberg likes him (the transcript of Trump's interview is directly below:
I deciphered Trump's rambling interview below:
7) November 2024:
Trump is now “very popular” on Tik Tok...
....does very well with young voters...
....and wins the election.
The Tik Tok psyops program targeting young voters created a natural, unsurprising alliance between them and Trump....
.....because no one hates this country more than Trump:
8) January 20, 2025:
Trump blocks a SCOTUS-upheld, Congressional ban of Tik Tok.
The CEOs of Tik Tok (“National Security Threat”)...
....and Facebook (“Enemy of the people”)....
....were both honored guests in the very limited seating of the indoor event.
Even loyal, Red state governors couldn’t get seats….
9) January 22, 2025:
Trump now dismisses the national security threat of Tik Tok as China harmlessly spying on “young kids watching crazy videos”
Let’s recap:
1) Tik Tok kids troll a Trump rally……Trump seethes over the radical leftist kids humiliating him, and declares he will ban Tik Tok because it is a “national security threat”.
2) Trump makes billions from a Tik Tok investor, and no longer wants to ban Tik Tok because (he’s mad a Zuckerberg and) he doesn’t want Zuckerberg (an “enemy of the people”) to benefit.
3) Zuckerberg humiliating bends the knee to, and supports, Trump……Trump wins the election with the help of young voters/Tik Tok
4) Zuckerberg and TikTok’s CEO attend Inauguration
5) Trump blocks the Tik Tok ban because Tik Tok and its young users “like me very much”.
6) Trump gaslights the country, and dismisses foreign enemies manipulating young Americans into hating America….and China stealing data…..and spying…..is harmless…..
Regardless of whether it's Trump’s greed/financial self-interest from Tik Tok owners/donors.....
.....or Trump’s insatiable need for narcissistic supply from "young" users.....
...Trump’s narcissism repeatedly compromises him....which compromises the country.
Another national security threatening vehicle for Trump’s greed/corruption/selfishness?:
The Trump crypto coin.....
....as Scott Galloway explains at the 22:00 minute mark of this interview:
Now, let’s take everything above and circle back to the Tik Tok ban:
Trump’s insatiable neediness (narcissistic supply) and selfishness create a trickle-down effect......that infects the masses…who like Trump, either don’t know, or don’t care enough about the risks of Tik Tok.
The Democrats become afraid to stand on principle because doing so puts them in an anti-populist position.
This forces the Democrats to support blocking the ban because the Democrats don’t want to continue to cede the young vote to a guy who cares about nothing....
....which results, at least in this case, with the Democrats not standing for anything.
There are no adults.
No one will say "no".
Because no one can say "no".
And it flows down from Trump.
Our Crises
There’s been much talk of the “crisis of loneliness”.
Although real, it’s not our only crisis.
We also suffer from a crisis of immaturity……and the proliferation of victimhood.
There are a few things that people in this country prefer to bathe themselves in than victimhood...
...as analyzed, here:
patreon.com/posts/93977133
Similar to the victimhood framing of January 6th “hostages”....
.....we have “Tik Tok refugees” who are trolling/bragging about running to an even more nefarious, Chinese-run social media site....
.....simply out of childish, immature, petty vindictiveness.
“Adults” are trying to protect national security…..and millions of childish Americans are subverting the efforts because, “you’re not the boss of me”.
The Tik Tok situation highlights how the country is experiencing (collapsing due to)......
....“Death by 100 million paper cuts”……
.....with each “paper cut” representing a selfish, narcissistic action that occurs at the expense of the country as a whole.
The paper cuts exist in the millions among the masses, and in a vacuum or in isolation, are inconsequential.
But in the aggregate, these papercuts are very impactful: voting for a corrupt/divisive/destructive president because I’ll save a few bucks in taxes each week on payday…..
Or…joining Rednote because I can no longer narcissistically post uninformed, ignorant, “look-at-me” rants on Tik Tik….
As you move up the hierarchy of society, there are fewer people/papercuts, but they became increasingly more impactful and “painful”:
Corporations/CEOs/Billionaires who have done very well for decades….but who support Trump because they will do even better under an evolving oligarchy…..
....and may even land a cabinet position or be involved in decision making……
….or congress members/senators selfishly obsess about remaining in office, and will sell out the country, rather than vote to impeach a corrupt/treasonous president…..
......or even to simply to reject a FOXNews host from becoming Secretary of Defense.
At the very top, we have Trump…..
.....who selfishness/papercuts are matched only by his power, and ability to harm and “injure” the country/world.
Why wouldn't we have a nation of selfish, narcissistic citizens when we have a president who sells everything from trading cards…to crypto coins….to Bibles...
.....despite being the antithesis of Christian ideals in just about every way imaginable…..
…..and we have an outgoing president who selfishly refused to step down (not run) when he clearly was not physically capable of doing the job....
.....and who pardoned his own son after promising not to (which likely lead to the, “Fuck it…release all the January 6ers”, pardons.
It’s not surprising people don't give a damn about national security because, “I gotta get mine”...
…regardless of whether that it’s desperately clinging to political office, corruptly making billions of dollars, or simply obsessively chasing validation/attention on Tik Tok.
And so....Tik Tok remains operational.