“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Sun Zu

It’s in that spirit that I have started studying trump. I’ve never done research on a political figure before except having to analyze Clinton’s inaugural address for an assignment in college.

The 1/3/2017 episode of Frontline is worth watching. I watched it a second time last night and took notes. Most of this article comes from that episode.

Here are the highlights that many people may not know.

Trump was born into luxury and privilege.

His father was a driven workaholic who taught all his children from a young age that only winning mattered. Losing was not an option. He was one of five children. He was out of control, and his parents could not deal with him. He was the only child to be sent away to a boarding school. A rigorous military school.

Trump moved to Manhattan and tried to break into real estate there. He found a Mentor in Roy Cohn, a protege of Joe McCarthy. Cohn, known for his lack of a moral compass, trained trump to be tough and taught him to “hit back harder than they ever hit you,” which is why he always slings shit at anyone who does not do what he wants. Never admit failure. Claim it as a victory.

This is the straightforward pattern that Trump uses repeatedly.

Do whatever he wants.
If anyone objects, accuse them of something worse and don’t let up.
If you do fail, claim it as a victory.

Trump does not change.

Which means he is straightforward to manipulate. Good for people who want to influence him but bad for the US. It’s very likely that Russian intelligence knew this before deciding to influence the election.

He used this tactic for the first time when the government sued him for discriminatory housing practices in NYC. His family won’t rent to Blacks. Roy Cohn countersues the government. They lose big time and then claim it as a victory. He never admits a defeat.

He built the Trump tower at age 33. He conned the city government into inflating the floor numbers from 58 to 68. Even his buildings are lies.

This is the only commercial building he owns, but he does not have the land under it.

He believes if you say something enough times, people will believe it. He feels diminished outside of the spotlight. He resents the elite because they don’t accept him. He started on an enormous buying spree, described as being out of control and manic by those close to him. In the late 80s, Trump ran for president.

His platform:

“I want strength and extreme confidence at the helm of this country. I am tired of seeing this country being ripped off by so many foreign nations.”

Sound familiar? Trump does not change.

A woman was raped in NYC. He took out a full-page ad calling for killing the accused black kids, who were later proven innocent after years in prison. Trump never apologizes.

An analyst writes an article predicting the failure of the Taj Mahal Casino. Trump gets the reporter fired. The casino fails shortly after. It’s his first big failure. 3 billion in debt.

Banks see him as a great promoter, not as a CEO. Not a businessman, a showman.

With his casino failure and his debt skyrocketing, the banks seize control. They believed his properties needed his name. They kept him on to promote the business and gave him an allowance.

Trump goes public, makes a killing, and declares bankruptcy three times. His investors lose billions. He claims this as a loss on his taxes, which it was not, and does not pay taxes for years and years after.

He believes it’s ok to try to pull anything on anyone and that we should all be out for ourselves. As you can see, that goes for countries as well.

He backs off of politics.

Then he starts the Apprentice, which runs for 14 seasons.

There is a theory that Obama's roasting of him at the press dinner spurred him to run for President again.

He starts moving back into politics and champions the birther movement.

He announced his run in 2015. It’s a crazy rant.

The rest is history.

This is the story of a teenage bully that never grew up. Someone who is desperate for adoration and approval, who is thin-skinned and easy to manipulate. His friends say he is the same person now that they new in military school. Trump does not change.

Once you know what to look for, predicting and noticing his behavior patterns is straightforward.

I hope that major news outlets publish a synopsis of his behavior patterns. If enough people learn how he works, it will stop being effective.