The Cult of Trump

by Steven Hassan

  30 Natasha Frost, “Trump’s ‘Jokes’ About Blasey Ford Are an Attack,” Quartz, October 3, 2018, https://qz.com/1411922/trumps-mockery-of-christine-blasey-ford-is-a-strategic-attack/.

  31 Tony Ortega, “Exclusive: The Rise and Fall of the ‘Pope of Scientology’—in His Own Words,” Underground Bunker, June 5, 2018, https://tonyortega.org/2018/06/06/exclusive-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-pope-of-scientology-in-his-own-words/.

  32 “Trump’s ‘Dictator Envy’ on Full Display in Latest Praise for Kim Jong-Un,” South China Morning Post, June 16, 2018, https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2151110/donald-trumps-dictator-envy-full-display-latest.

  33 Ian Schwartz, “Chuck Todd: Trump Has ‘Elite Envy,’ ” RealClear Politics, accessed April 14, 2019. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/06/22/chuck_todd_trump_has_elite_envy.html.

  34 Goldner-Vukov and Moore, “Malignant Narcissism.”

  35 Keith McMillan, “Trump Received ‘Bone Spurs’ Diagnosis as a ‘Favor,’ Doctor’s Daughters Allege,” The Washington Post, December 26, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/26/trump-received-bone-spurs-diagnosis-favor-doctors-daughters-allege/?utm_term=.39f13d7dad9f.

  36 Angie Drobnic Holan, “Why Trump Is the Most Fact-Checked President,” Atlantic, January 14, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/donald-trump-most-fact-checked-president/579664/.

  37 Paul Rosenberg, “Lies, Bulls**t and Gaslighting: A Field Guide to Trump’s Reality-Warping Mendacity,” Salon, February 25, 2019, https://www.salon.com/2019/02/24/lies-bullst-and-gaslighting-a-field-guide-to-trumps-reality-warping-mendacity/.

  38 Maggie Haberman and Benjamin Weiser, “Trump Persuaded Struggling People to Invest in Scams, Lawsuit Says,” The New York Times, October 29, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/nyregion/trump-acn-lawsuit.html.

  39 Dan Mangan, “New Lawsuit Accuses Trump and Three of His Children of Conning ‘Thousands’ of Americans in Marketing Ploy.” CNBC, October 29, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/trump-accused-in-lawsuit-of-conning-thousands-of-americans.html.

  40 Goldner-Vukov and Moore, “Malignant Narcissism.”

  41 David Corn, “If You Want to Understand Trump, Understand This: Revenge Is What He Cares About Most,” Mother Jones, January 30, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/if-you-want-to-understand-trump-understand-this-revenge-is-what-he-cares-about-most/.

  42 Chauncey DeVega, “Psychologist John Gartner on Trump’s Behavior: ‘It’s a Coup That’s Not Moving Slowly Anymore,’ ” Salon, June 13, 2018, https://www.salon.com/2018/06/13/psychologist-john-gartner-on-trumps-behavior-its-a-coup-thats-not-moving-slowly-anymore/.

  43 Phil Mattingly and Eric Bradner, “Trump Picks Sessions for Attorney General,” CNN, November 18, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/jeff-sessions-attorney-general-donald-trump-consideration/index.html.

  44 ABC News, accessed April 14, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/comey-opens-shocking-found-fired-trump/story?id=54486383.

  45 Quint Forgey, Patrick Temple-West, and Caitlin Oprysko, “McCabe: ‘I Was Fired Because I Opened a Case Against the President,’ ” Politico Magazine, February 18, 2019, https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/17/mccabe-fired-trump-fbi-1173596.

  46 United States District Court Central District Of California Rtc, .et al. Plaintiffs, vs. ROBIN SCOTT, et al., Defendants. RTC, et al. Plaintiffs, Vs. Larry Wollersheim, Defendants. (And Related Counter-Claims) No. Cv 85-711 Jmi (Bx) 1995.

  47 L. Ron Hubbard, “The Scientologist: A Manual on the Dissemination of Material,” Ability Magazine, 1955.

  48 Steve Cannane and Brigid Andersen, “How the Church of Scientology Tried to Bring Down Miss Lovely,” ABC News, December 21, 2016, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-17/how-scientology-tried-to-bring-down-miss-lovely/6627782.

  49 Nick Penzenstadler and Susan Page, “Exclusive: Trump’s 3,500 Lawsuits Unprecedented for a Presidential Nominee.” USA Today, October 23, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/01/donald-trump-lawsuits-legal-battles/84995854/.

  50 Alexis Sachdev, “A Long List of Everyone Donald Trump Has Sued or Threatened to Sue.” Metro US, March 23, 2017, https://www.metro.us/news/a-long-list-of-everyone-donald-trump-has-sued-or-threatened-to-sue/zsJqcw—-MpxXnpvBtlilY.

  51 Allan Tate Wood, “My Four and One Half Years with the Lord of the Flies,” accessed April 15, 2019, http://www.atwood7.com/essays/lordofflies.html.

  52 Ibid.

  53 Sarah Edmondson and Sarah Berman, “Why I Joined a Secret Society That Branded Me,” Vice, November 3, 2017, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwaaxd/why-i-joined-a-secret-society-that-branded-me.

  54 Hava Dayan, “Sexual Abuse and Charismatic Cults,” Aggression and Violent Behavior, Pergamon, April 21, 2018, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135917891730246X.

  55 Steven Brocklehurst, “Children of God Cult Was ‘Hell on Earth,’ ” BBC News, June 27, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-44613932.

  56 Butch Hayes, Robert Stahley, and Fritz Udiski, “View Miriam Hannon’s Obituary on Citizensvoice.com and Share Memories,” Miriam Hannon Obituary, Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, Citizens Voice, accessed April 15, 2019, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/citizensvoice/obituary.aspx?pid=187603827.

  57 Meg Kelly, “President Trump and Accusations of Sexual Misconduct: The Complete List,” Washington Post, November 22, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/11/22/president-trump-and-accusations-of-sexual-misconduct-the-complete-list/?utm_term=.3e46e518056b.

  58 Jane Mayer, “Documenting Trump’s Abuse of Women,” The New Yorker, June 18, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/documenting-trumps-abuse-of-women.

  59 Goldner-Vukov and Moore, “Malignant Narcissism.”

  60 Jamie Gangel and Dan Merica, “Bob Woodward’s New Book Puts Readers ‘Face to Face with Trump,’ ” CNN, July 30, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/30/politics/woodward-new-book-trump/index.html.

  61 Russell Miller, “Atlantic Crossing,” Bare-Faced Messiah: Chapter 19, accessed April 15, 2019, https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/bfm19.htm.

  62 Nina Burleigh, “In Newly Released Recordings, Trump Says He Groped Melania in Public and Ivanka Looks Down on Him,” Newsweek, September 25, 2017, https://www.newsweek.com/trump-melania-ivanka-terrorists-howard-stern-670309.

  63 Kate Taylor, “Trump Reportedly Loves McDonald’s Because He Has a ‘Longtime Fear’ of Being Poisoned,” Business Insider, June 25, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-loves-mcdonalds-afraid-of-being-poisoned-2018-1.

  64 Natasha Bach, “Trump Staff Turnover Hits 34%—a First Year Presidential Record,” Fortune, accessed April 15, 2019, http://fortune.com/2017/12/28/trump-white-house-record-first-year-turnover-rate/.

  65 Krysia Diverin Stuttgart, “Lost File Reveals Hitler’s Paranoia,” The Guardian, March 21, 2005, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/21/books.secondworldwar.

  66 Doug Peterson, “The Men Who Wouldn’t Stop Clapping,” History by the Slice, October 22, 2016, http://www.disappearingman.com/communism/men-wouldnt-stop-clapping/.

  67 Tal Axelrod, “Former White House Aide Reveals Compiling of Trump ‘Enemies List’ in Memoir: Report.” The Hill, January 18, 2019, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/425978-former-white-house-aide-reveals-compiling-of-trump-enemies-list-in.

  68 Bandy X. Lee, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, p. 60.

  69 “Lyndon LaRouche, Perennial U.S. Presidential Candidate, Dies at 96,” Reuters, February 14, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-larouche/lyndon-larouche-perennial-u-s-presidential-candidate-dies-at-96-idUSKCN1Q22Y5.

  70 The Washington Post, accessed April 15, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/larou4.htm.

  71 Hugh B. Urban, “Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74, no. 2 (200
6): 356–89, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfj084.

  72 Andreas Heldal-Lund, “Operation Clambake Present: The Scientology Fair Game Policy,” accessed April 15, 2019, http://www.xenu.net/fairgame-e.html.

  73 Clerk, “About SPDL,” Suppressive Person Defense League, December 26, 1966, http://suppressiveperson.org/1966/12/26/hcopl-pts-sections-personnel-and-execs/.

  74 “Statement of Angela Davis (Text),” Alternative Considerations of Jonestown Peoples Temple, accessed April 15, 2019, https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19027.

  75 Goldner-Vukov and Moore, “Malignant Narcissism.”

  76 Ibid.

  77 Tony Schwartz, “I Wrote ‘The Art of the Deal’ with Trump. His Self-Sabotage Is Rooted in His Past,” The Washington Post, May 16, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/05/16/i-wrote-the-art-of-the-deal-with-trump-his-self-sabotage-is-rooted-in-his-past/?utm_term=.01f6a548f115.

  78 Sabrina Siddiqui, “Obama Speaks Out Against Trump and Attacks ‘Politics of Fear and Resentment,’ ” The Guardian, September 7, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/barack-obama-trump-illinois-dangerous-times.

  CHAPTER FOUR: America: a Country Wired for Manipulation

  1 Andrew Kragie, “The 7 Most Bewildering Moments From Trump’s CPAC Speech,” The Atlantic, March 3, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/president-trump-repeatedly-veered-off-script-cpac/584014/.

  2 Century of Self, directed by Adam Curtis, BBC, 2002, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s.

  3 “The Roar of a Bewildered Herd,” Historical Underbelly, May 19, 2011, https://historicalunderbelly.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/the-roar-of-a-bewildered-herd/.

  4 Edward L. Bernays, Propaganda (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Ig Publishing, 1928).

  5 Theodor W. Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality (New York: Harper & Row, 1950).

  6 Larry Tye, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1998).

  7 Ynnor Mark, “Mind Control (ABC NEWS SPECIAL, 1979),”YouTube, January 2, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B65IgEjQie8.

  8 Saul McLeod, “Saul McLeod,” Asch Conformity Experiment, Simply Psychology, accessed April 15, 2019, https://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html.

  9 Daniel T. Gilbert and Patrick S. Malone, “The Correspondence Bias,” Psychological Bulletin 117, no. 1 (1995): 21–38, https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.117.1.21.

  10 Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World (Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino, 2012).

  11 Linda Qiu, “The Many Ways Trump Has Said Mexico Will Pay for the Wall,” The New York Times, January 11, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us/politics/trump-mexico-pay-wall.html.

  12 Omarosa Manigault Newman, personal communication, February 2, 2019.

  13 Milton H. Erickson, M.D., and Ernest L. Rossi, Ph.D., “Varieties of Double Bind,” American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 17, no. 3 (1975): 143–57, doi: 10.1080/00029157.1975.10403733.

  14 Holly Rosenkrantz, “DeSantis Says Trump Is a Role Model for Children Because He Keeps His Promises,” CBS News, October 22, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/desantis-says-donald-trump-is-a-role-model-for-children-because-he-keeps-his-promises/.

  15 Nancy Cook, Ben Schreckinger, and Nahal Toosi, “How Frank Luntz Went from Trump Enemy to White House Insider,” Politico Magazine, March 27, 2019, https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/27/frank-luntz-trump-white-house-1238283.

  16 “A Rigorous Scientific Look into The ‘Fox News Effect,’ ” Forbes, July 21, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/07/21/a-rigorous-scientific-look-into-the-fox-news-effect/#15374ed512ab.

  17 Jon Simpson, “Finding Brand Success in the Digital World,” Forbes, August 25, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/08/25/finding-brand-success-in-the-digital-world/#6f17a2036.

  18 Gallup Inc., “In U.S., 40% Get Less Than Recommended Amount of Sleep,” Gallup.com, December 19, 2013, https://news.gallup.com/poll/166553/less-recommended-amount-sleep.aspx.

  19 Paul Alhola and Päivi Polo-Kantola, “Sleep Deprivation: Impact on Cognitive Performance,” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, Dove Medical Press, October 2007, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656292/.

  20 Hilarie Cash, Cosette D. Rae, Ann H. Steel, and Alexander Winkler, “Internet Addiction: A Brief Summary of Research and Practice,” Current Psychiatry Reviews, Bentham Science Publishers, November 2012, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/.

  21 Quentin Fottrell, “People Spend Most of Their Waking Hours Staring at Screens,” MarketWatch, August 4, 2018, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-are-spending-most-of-their-waking-hours-staring-at-screens-2018-08-01.

  22 “Facebook Addiction: An Emerging Problem,” American Journal of Psychiatry Residents’ Journal, accessed April 15, 2019, https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2016.111203.

  23 Mark Molloy, “Facebook Addiction ‘Activates Same Part of the Brain as Cocaine,’ ” The Telegraph, February 17, 2016, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/12161461/Facebook-addiction-activates-same-part-of-the-brain-as-cocaine.html.

  24 Cal Newport, “Is Email Making Professors Stupid?” chronicle.com, February 2, 2019, https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/is-email-making-professors-stupid.

  25 Rob Price, “Apple CEO Tim Cook: I Don’t Want My Nephew on a Social Network,” Business Insider, January 19, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-doesnt-let-nephew-use-social-media-2018-1.

  26 Martin H. Teicher, “Wounds That Time Won’t Heal: The Neurobiology of Child Abuse,” Cerebrum 2, no. 4 (Fall 2000).

  CHAPTER FIVE: The Persuasiveness of Trump

  1 Scott Adams, “The Creator of Dilbert Explains Trump’s Persuasion Style and Reminds Us Why People Stopped Caring About Facts,” Business Insider, November 1, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-explains-trumps-persuasion-style-2017-10.

  2 Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019).

  3 Andre Bermont, “Trump’s First Year Ends in Twice as Many Mass Shootings Than Obama’s!” Global Research, February 21, 2018, https://www.globalresearch.ca/trumps-first-year-ends-in-twice-as-many-mass-shootings-than-obamas/5629856.

  4 Melia Robinson and Skye Gould. “There Have Been 307 Mass Shootings in the US so Far in 2018—Here’s the Full List,” Business Insider, November 8, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-mass-shootings-in-america-this-year-2018-2.

  5 James H. Stewart, “Hypnosis in Contemporary Medicine,” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 80, no. 4 (April 2005): 511–24.

  6 Tim Hains, “Full Replay: President Trump Holds 2020 Campaign Rally in El Paso, Texas,” RealClear Politics, accessed April 15, 2019, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/02/11/watch_live_president_trump_holds_2020_campaign_rally_in_el_paso_texas.html#!.

  7 Alayna Treene and Jonathan Swan, “One of Trump’s Favorite Compliments Is Telling Powerful Men How Handsome They Are,” Axios, February 3, 2019, https://www.axios.com/trump-compliments-powerful-men-handsome-45fd6634-e97d-4a3f-9133-266efdf492be.html.

  8 Steven Hassan, Combating Cult Mind Control, 4th ed. (Newton, MA: Freedom of Mind Press, 2018), p. 71.

  9 Gabriel Thompson, “David Cay Johnston on the Trump We Don’t Know,” Capital & Main, February 8, 2018, https://capitalandmain.com/david-cay-johnston-on-the-trump-we-dont-know-0206.

  10 “What Is NLP,” accessed March 15, 2019, http://www.nlp.com/whatisnlp.php.

  11 Jon Atack, “ ‘Never Believe a Hypnotist,’ ” Hubbard on Hypnosis, accessed April 15, 2019, http://home.snafu.de/tilman/j/hypnosis.html.

  12 Jon Atack, Let’s Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky: Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology (Colchester, Eng.: Richard Woods, 2013).
/>   13 Mind Control with Derren Brown, Syfy Channel, 2007.

  14 Derren Brown, “Derren Discusses the Assassin,” September 16, 2012, http://derrenbrown.co.uk/derren-discusses-assassin/.

  15 “Coaching NLP Training,” YouTube, accessed April 20, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/user/coachingnlptraining/about.

  16 Adrian Iacob, “Bill Clinton About Tony Robbins,” YouTube, February 8, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jImh3dZ2k4A.

  17 Marlow Stern, “Tony Robbins on the Key Differences Between His Pals Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,” The Daily Beast, August 20, 2016, https://www.thedailybeast.com/tony-robbins-on-the-key-differences-between-his-pals-hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump.

  18 TranceNet: TM Secret Teachings, accessed April 15, 2019, http://minet.org/www.trancenet.net/secrets/index.shtml.

  19 “Critically Examining Transcendental Meditation and the Programs Associated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,” Meditation Information Network, accessed April 15, 2019, http://www.minet.org/Documents/shank-5.

  20 Steve Phillips, “Trump Wants to Make America White Again,” The New York Times, February 15, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/opinion/trump-wants-to-make-america-white-again.html.

  21 Kayla Epstein, “Trump Responds to Megyn Kelly’s Questions on Misogyny—with More Misogyny,” The Guardian, August 7, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/06/donald-trump-misogyny-republican-debate-megyn-kelly.

  22 Ben Mathis-Lilley, “Trump Has Retweeted at Least Four White Nationalist Accounts That Were Later Suspended,” Slate, March 18, 2019, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/trump-white-nationalist-accounts-suspended-retweets.html.

  23 “Power of Donald Trump’s Narrative Intuition & How He Beat Hillary Clinton,” Business of Story, Storytelling Strategy, Workshops & Keynotes, accessed April 15, 2019, https://businessofstory.com/podcast/brander-chief-dr-randy-olson-explains-power-trumps-narrative-intuition/.

  24 Chris Cillizza, “3 Theories on Why Donald Trump’s Lies Don’t Seem to Faze Him (or His Supporters),” CNN, April 3, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/03/politics/donald-trump-lies-reasons/index.html.