US President Donald Trump speaks on the phone while leaving Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, US, October 12, 2026.
President Donald Trump's supporters are often described as displaying cult-like characteristics, and a new commentary from experts helps explain why.
"President Donald Trump shared multiple videos on social media Tuesday depicting animals mauling people," wrote the Rolling Stone's Charisma Madarang on Tuesday. "The bizarre posts appeared as the nation is beset by sky-high gas prices, a war against Iran, and a cost of living crisis that has shaken the country’s economy as midterm elections loom."
Madarang added, "The president amplified the violent footage on his Truth Social account, which is usually reserved for boasting about his perceived accomplishments and reposting praise from the people who work for him."
On one occasion Trump wrote, as a man appeared to be attacked by a tiger, “'Don’t ever mess with nature! President DJT.” It turned out the real-life victim was a man named William Chapman. While the clip itself does not appear to show Chapman's death, the intersection between Trump's posting of the video and the actual attitude of the administration toward dissenters has rallied opposition to the post."
"The mentally ill president of the United States gleefully posts grisly video of a man being killed by a tiger," posted George Conway, husband to former Trump consultant Kellyanne Conway. "And then an official White House account, funded by taxpayers, reposts it. Will the American media finally report on the president’s manifest psychiatric disorders??"
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, American Immigration Council, echoed Conway's sentiments, echoed that sentiment.
"WOW," Reichlin-Melnick wrote on Tuesday. "Kristi Noem and Elon Musk, among others, 'chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an impeccable record. ... The attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information' and many officials 'knew [they] were untrue.'"
To explain why Trump supporters display this behavior, Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky, a cognitive scientist and professor of cognitive science at the University of Bristol, spoke with AlterNet in August.
"If you look at internet trolls and their personality profiles, you find that they score very high on what's called the dark triad of personality: psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and [narcissism], that's what it's called," Lewandowsky told AlterNet. "So we know that trolls take pleasure in trolling, which means getting other people upset. And I think that's what we're observing here — this is basically trolling behavior. So would these people score high on the dark triad? I would think yes, but I don't know of any data that's done a personality profile specifically of MAGA voters. We do have it for trolls, though — I have data on that. People have published research on it, and the similarities are just overwhelming. So I'd be very surprised if these were well-adjusted, nice people."
People who work with Trump have argued the president is doing this for, ultimately, literally self-enriching reasons.
" I think his endgame is to see if he can make another $10 to $20 billion for himself and then pardon himself and his family members," Anthony Scaramucci, Trump's former communications director, told AlterNet in September. "I think that's his endgame. I don't think he has a policy endgame. I don't think he cares a wick about any person that voted for him or even anybody in America. He certainly would like to leave some monuments to himself in Washington. I don't think he'll be successful in knocking down the Kennedy Center. He'll certainly be successful at building that ballroom. It'll remain indeterminate about the Trump arc, the triumph. But Trump wants to name things after himself, he wants to make money, and he wants attention. So look to see those people restored to the White House, Politico, CNN."
Scaramucci continued, "He'll have to get them restored because they cut his air supply off. Even though he supposedly hates the journalists, he wants them there so he can get eyeballs and attention. But that's it. He doesn't have a policy endgame. He doesn't care about any of that stuff.""