Does Donald Trump Share Traits with Serial Killers?

 by Annabel Heaton

Donald Trump is widely known for many characteristics: narcissism, selfishness, deviousness and law-bending; some even think he is a genius, using legal and financial loop holes to achieve his goals. But how close are these traits to those of a serial killer? Despite Trump being responsible for many things, I doubt killing people is one of them (although I will address this later on). However, what about his psychological profiling? To what extent is it comparable to figures such as Ted Bundy?

Throughout his business and political career, Donald Trump has used and abused his power in many ways. For example, he has mistreated women, with many accusations of sexual misconduct, the most high-profile example being Stormy Daniels, who received $130,000 for signing a non-disclosure agreement. In none of these situations he has shown any empathy or remorse for his behaviour. You may be wondering at this point, “but Trump isn’t violent and hasn’t killed anyone, so where is this going?”. However, it is important to understand that many psychopaths aren’t physically violent and fewer are homicidal. Even among violent psychopaths, a tiny minority will be serial killers. But certain traits do link all psychopaths and psychopathically-oriented individuals: lack of empathy, guilt or conscience, as well as an inflated sense of self worth.

I think we can say confidently that Trump would probably find it difficult to relate to the serial killer’s lust to take a life. But this doesn’t make him non-psychopathic, just not a serial killer. On the other hand, I’d argue that he’d find it much less difficult to relate to the mentality with which serial killers pursue their peculiarly violent, perverse compulsions. Indeed, he has expressed admiration for authoritarian leaders, in particular Kim Jong-Un, responsible for ordering the brutal killing of large numbers of people. This means that Trump, like other psychopaths, won’t always find it easy to relate to what gratifies their fellow psychopaths, but will be able to relate to the mentality with which their fellow psychopaths pursue the gratifications that compel them.

Like other psychopaths, Donald Trump has a transgressive mentality, meaning a vast contempt for rules, limits and boundaries and a long track record of violating them (sexual, political, financial, personal). And when psychopaths transgress, they do so remorselessly. The most visible and most recent example of Trump's lack of remorse has been his handling of the Coronavirus outbreak, providing no help for the people of America and showing no concern for deaths that currently number 210,000 (and counting). In this sense, he has been responsible for deaths on an extraordinary scale.

Trump's lies, delusions, greed, corruption and malignant narcissism have thrown the United States and the world into peril as this unstable president has confronted the coronavirus pandemic in increasingly erratic fashion. It is a crisis of science and empirical reality that he cannot simply wish away or ignore, much as he has tried.  

Characteristics shared by Trump and Ted Bundy:  

* Smooth talking but insincere (Ted Bundy had a "perfect" mask)

* Egocentric and grandiose 

* Lack of empathy, remorse or guilt

* Shallow and impulsive emotions, with poor behaviour controls and a consistent need for excitement