An Observation

 

There seem to be two main schools of thought with respects to dealing with Trump's narcissism. One is that he needs a constant supply of ass-kissing, so give it to him so that you can deal with "Nice Trump." Behave a certain way, and you can expect positive results. The other is that he's just a shameful cretin and treat him like one until he slinks off fuming.

Trump strikes me as being as socially hierarchical as can be imagined; very kiss up, punch down. Even if we didn't suspect (or know) that he's compromised, he would treat Putin more deferentially because in his eyes, this is a multibillionaire with nukes. This is why it's okay for Elon Musk to go about the White House dressed like a large teenager, but Zelenskyy, who is dressed in solidarity with his people at war, gets a chiding. 

Trump behaves like a mafioso, but he respects power. Sometimes he isn't aware of who has the power is all, so it pays to flex on him to let him know who has the juice. 

MAGA associates his fortunes with theirs. He encourages this--"They are attacking ME to get to YOU," which is the most absurd bullshit, but they seem to go with it. But I think in large part they do it because of the impression they are "winning." 

They need to see him lose to start getting at the truth--he's not making us great, and he's not even very good at this whole leadership business. He doesn't respect blue haired nose-pierced kids coming at him. Being rejected by people who have the juice, though? It hits him where he lives.

Just an observation.