U.S. President Donald Trump in Dearborn, Michigan, January 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump is going to force the American people through "the fight of all fights," warns a psychologist who is an expert in malignant narcissism. In the aftermath of losing the 2026 midterm elections, and with them much of his power, Trump is now psychologically incapable of coping in a manner healthy for himself or anyone else.
"I think this was Trump’s chance to be conciliatory and to work with Democrats and to forge a new path for the next two years," Dr. Alan D. Blotcky, a clinical and forensic psychologist who wrote more than 40 articles for Salon, NY Daily News, and The Independent, told AlterNet. He was referring to Trump's decision to hire the firebrand Stephen Miller over the conciliatory Susie Wiles to be his chief of staff after the midterms setback.
"But instead, he is going to double down, triple down, quadruple down," Blotcky explained. "He’s not gonna be conciliatory. He’s not gonna be someone who works with Democrats. He wants what he wants. He doesn’t want oversight. He doesn’t want accountability. He doesn’t want anybody issuing him subpoenas to look at his behavior. And so he is essentially arming up for a fight, for a huge fight over the next two years, because he knows that oversight and accountability are coming. He’s going to resist it with all his might. And so Stephen Miller, who is the strongest sycophant around, and also the architect of the failed immigration plan, is now gonna be chief of staff."
He continued, "So he’s getting ready for the fight. And I think the next two years are going to be messier and more toxic than the first two years."
When AlterNet asked why Trump is behaving this way, Blotcky said that "he’s a malignant narcissist and all he cares about is himself and what his needs are and what his wants are and what his desires are. He has never been concerned about the American people or what’s in the best interest of this country. He doesn’t even know what the Constitution says. And you know why? He doesn’t care. He’s in this job for two reasons in my view. Well, probably more than two reasons, but two primary reasons. One was he wanted to be president so that he could stay out of prison. And the other one is to grift. And what has he done for the first two years in office? He’s made billions. He’s made billions. And so mission accomplished in his mind. He has no desire to do anything that would be helpful to the American people or to anybody else. He’s totally self-serving and totally preoccupied with his wants and needs."
AlterNet then asked Blotcky what Americans could expect next from Trump.
"It’s going to be battle after battle after battle," Blotcky told AlterNet. "I think his false conspiracy theories are going to abound. He’s going to blame Democrats and Republicans and anybody and everybody for his predicament. He’s gonna try to convince the public that everything is wonderful, just like he’s done for the past two years. And I think the efforts to hold him account and to look at his behavior during the first two years, all that’s going to do is instigate huge battles on his part. So he is preparing for the fight. He’s always been a fighter. That’s all he likes to do is fight. But this is going to be the fight of all fights, and he doesn’t care if everything and everybody around him burns because that’s how malignant narcissists are. And these people that are by his side, if they think that he’s going to help them, they’re mistaken."
He continued, "Now, he probably will issue all of them pardons at the end, and that’s ultimately what I think they’re banking on, is that he will pardon everybody. So that may be true. He may do that. But short of that, he has no allegiance to anybody except himself."
Speaking with AlterNet last month, a psychiatrist who led a group of three dozen top health professionals in May to warn that Trump is unfit for office explained why this is the case.
"I like to use the metaphor here of a man in a supermarket," Dr. Henry Abraham, formerly of Tufts University, told AlterNet at the time. "He's getting in line in a supermarket, and he has a basket full of food, and he smashes it into the woman in front of him, because she has more food than he does and it's going to take a long time and he's in a rush — and what's she doing buying so much food, and get out of the way, and she's a terrible person, and I'm really in a rush and I'm far more important than she is. And he pushes it, and he really shoves her with the shopping cart. Now, if you saw that, you would say — well, you'd probably call the police, because it's really a bizarre kind of thing. But that's the whole point. It's a bizarre kind of thing. It's crazy. It's a red flag."