Trump’s illusions of grandeur fly in the face of reality: political scientists

U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 11, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

When U.S. President Donald Trump is asked about having low approval ratings in countless polls released in 2026, he typically dismisses them as "fake news" and brags that his second presidency is a raging success. According to the i Paper's Matthew Bailey, Trump is showing major illusions of grandeur at a time when his popularity continues to plummet.

"The situation in Iran is unravelling for Donald Trump, with talks over ending the war stalling, the U.S. economy suffering and the president experiencing his worst poll ratings ever," Bailey explains in the UK-based i Paper. "But the U.S. president, at least outwardly, appears blissfully detached from the seriousness of the problem, instead spending his time bombarding his Truth Social platform with reposts of adulatory memes from his supporters. In the space of less than 10 minutes on Sunday night, from 10.22pm (EDT) to 10.31pm, Trump reposted 17 memes mostly focused on his own greatness, as well as referencing the discredited theory that the 2020 election was stolen, the construction of his White House ballroom and the addition of his face to Mount Rushmore."

According to David Anderson, a professor of politics at Durham University in England, Trump is surrounded by ultra-MAGA loyalists who constantly feed his illusions of grandeur.

Anderson told the UK-based i Paper, "Trump only gets information that he wants to hear. So according to his advisers, he is the most beloved president in history right now. And I think he believes it…. He famously has a person whose job it is to hand him a stack of positive headlines every day…. Trump holds these Cabinet hearings that are in some ways humiliating because they go around the table, and everybody has to just heap praise and glory upon him. They even try to outdo each other by congratulating him on his greatness more than everybody else has."

Another political scholar in the UK, the University of Kent's Dr. Andrew Wroe, believes that Trump's over-the-top boasts on Truth Social are primarily aimed at his hardcore MAGA base.

Wroe told the i Paper, "The volume of his posts and the level of their outrageousness may be correlated with a desire to distract people from more pressing and difficult matters that are dominating the media cycle. Trump is a wily political operator, and he's learned the art of distraction. Many posts are not aimed at the wider American public, but are instead designed to appeal specifically to his MAGA base who revel in his norm-busting antics, especially 'owning the libs.' Trump's narcissistic and insecure personality may be comforted by reposting fawning messages of devotion from his loyal supporters. More emotionally secure presidents have not needed to do this."

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