Exacting vengeance for humiliation and rejection by the NY/DC "elite" drives EVERYTHING the felon does.
The felon is a psychopathic malignant narcissist whose pitiful, desperate need for acceptance drove him to go to any lengths to amass the wealth and power he believed would gain him a place in the highest circles of NY/DC society.
Even at the highest levels of society, that corridor is a melting pot that values pluralism and is a curious blend of progressive social values, internationalism, and high-stakes economic competition.
And he was desperate to be embraced in that world.
And he never was.
He was humiliated and rejected.
However much money he amassed, however often he managed insinuate himself into the the upper circles of Northeast Megalopolis society (from Boston to DC with NYC at it's center) he was always viewed with contempt as the vulgar, ill-mannered, grasping troll that he is.
He may have convinced himself he was a player, but he knew the truth. He was an object of contempt.
His most beloved symbols of success were mocked as tacky and gouache. The attitude toward him in upper circles was reflected in the media. Newsweek highlighted his fall (Trump: The Fall). Quotes like "You live by the glitz, you die by the glitz," from people he claimed as "friends" capture how he was viewed. Vanity Fair described his "moral larceny" and reputation for slinging bullshit. Spy Magazine was relentless, and decades later, Spy founders continued to torment him.
Having his most desperate need met by rejection and contempt inflicted an intolerable wound to his eggshell ego. And now, everything -- absolutely everything he does -- is driven by the need to exact vengeance for that wound.
To "get back" at "them" -- the ones that inflicted the wound -- he attacks their pluralism, their progressive values, their internationalism. He "shows them" by amassing even more wealth and power in the process.
He seeks to destroy and corrupt executive agencies that advance the rule-of-law and progressive social values. He advances the interests of the illiberal democracies and autocrats that are hellbent on destroying the rules-based international order forged more than 75 years ago. He rejects the transatlantic alliances that are held dear, not just by "the elite," but by all of us who believe in the idea of "The Good Will of the American People" as a powerful force committed to advancing human rights, human dignity, and self-determination across this planet.
It is ALL the petty vengeance of a psychopathic, narcissistic troll against his perception of the values held by the "movers and shakers" that rejected him.
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