And even more: (emphasis added)
Perhaps the clearest and most revealing statement of how Trump thinks of himself is in Think Like a Billionaire, the book Trump wrote to cash in on his renewed fame after the opening seasons of The Apprentice. In the introduction, Trump explains, “I’ve studied fellow billionaires from afar, and I’ve also read what others have written about us.”
Trump explains that one “student of successful entrepreneurs,” Michael Maccoby, “believes that billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, and Ted Turner are successful in part because they are narcissists who devote their talent with unrelenting focus to achieving their dreams, even if it’s sometimes at the expense of those around them” (emphasis added). Trump notes that “Maccoby’s book The Productive Narcissist makes a convincing argument that narcissism can be useful quality if you’re trying to start a business.”
Let’s set aside the historical fact that after six bankruptcies and more than 4,000 lawsuits in the past three decades, Trump is much more of a “destructive narcissist.” The point is, Trump has rationalized his narcissism, and he’s fine with achieving his vision and dreams at the expense of those around him.
Indeed, Trump idealizes the most extreme form of single-minded determination to impose one’s vision. He quotes the author of The Natural History of the Rich: “Almost all successful alpha personalities display a single-minded determination to impose their vision on the world, an irrational belief in unreasonable goals, bordering at times on lunacy.” Think Progress,
Can a ‘productive narcissist’ like Trump be persuaded to rejoin Paris climate accord?
Only by focusing on the one thing Trump really cares about—Trump.