"They Want to Hurt Trump": What It Means When Trump Refers to Himself in the Third Person
Why His Third-Person Language Explains Everything
“They Want to Hurt Trump”: What It Means When Trump Refers to Himself in the Third Person
Why His Third-Person Language Explains Everything
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #692: Wednesday, December 17th, 2025.
There are moments when language tells you more than any leaked memo ever could.
Not because the speaker intends to reveal something…but because they can’t help it.
One of those moments happens every time Donald Trump refers to himself in the third person.
Not once.
Not accidentally.
Not as a joke.
Repeatedly.
“Trump did more than anyone.”
“They’re attacking Trump.”
“No one has ever been treated like Trump.”
At first…it sounds odd.
Then theatrical.
Then familiar.
And eventually, if you listen closely enough…it becomes unmistakable: this isn’t style …it’s structure.
This article is not about diagnosing Trump. That’s lazy and unnecessary.
This is about understanding what his language tells us…about how he experiences himself…power…threat…and responsibility…and why that matters profoundly….for a country trying to survive a period of institutional strain.
Because when a leader stops saying “I,” something has already shifted.
Language Is Not Decoration; It’s Architecture
In persuasion and psychology, language isn’t just expression. It’s organization.
How someone speaks reveals:
How they locate themselves in relation to others
How they process blame and credit
Whether they experience themselves as a person…or a symbol
How they manage shame…threat…and vulnerability
Most adults refer to themselves in the first person almost all the time. “I think.” “I decided.” “I was wrong.”
Third-person self-reference is rare…and when it appears consistently…it’s meaningful.
Children do it…before identity fully consolidates.
Performers do it…when embodying a character.
Brands do it…when separating the product from the maker.
Which raises the obvious question:
Why does a sitting president…repeatedly…publicly…speak about himself like a brand being defended…rather than a person being accountable?
Trump Does Not Experience Himself as a Man; He Experiences Himself as “Trump”
This is the core insight most commentary misses.
Trump does not speak as a private self…who happens to hold office.
He speaks as a constructed entity.
“Trump” is not simply his name.
It is:
A symbol
A role
A mythic container
A grievance object
A loyalty test
When he says “Trump,” he is not describing himself…he is invoking an identity that exists above ordinary human constraint.
This accomplishes several things at once:
It elevates conflict from personal accountability…to symbolic warfare
It transforms criticism into persecution
It converts failure into unfair treatment
It makes empathy optional…and loyalty mandatory
If “I” am criticized…I might need to reflect.
If “Trump” is attacked…reflection is betrayal…to, yep, “Trump.”
That difference is not semantic.
It is psychological armor.
Third-Person Speech as Emotional Distance
There is a large body of psychological research on self-distancing.
When people are under threat…especially ego threat…they often shift language to create space between themselves and painful emotion.
One common mechanism is third-person self-reference.
Instead of:
“I feel under attack.”
It becomes:
“They’re going after Trump.”
That small linguistic move:
Reduces felt vulnerability
Dampens shame
Converts emotion into performance
Keeps the speaker from having to integrate feedback
In other words: it protects the ego from collapse.
This isn’t about intelligence.
It’s about defense.
Trump has lived his entire adult life in environments where:
Admitting error was punished
Vulnerability was exploited
Dominance was rewarded
Image preservation was survival
Third-person speech allows him to remain invulnerable by never fully inhabiting the human “I.”
Why “Trump” Is Always the Victim, Never the Actor
Listen closely to how third-person language shifts responsibility.
“I failed” is an admission.
“Trump was treated unfairly” is an accusation.
One centers agency.
The other externalizes harm.
Third-person framing allows Trump to:
Avoid ownership without denying outcomes
Maintain grievance without introspection
Position himself as target rather than cause
This is especially useful during:
Legal exposure
Moral condemnation
Institutional accountability
Historical judgment
Because if “Trump” is under siege, then:
Courts are corrupt
Media is lying
Opponents are enemies
Rules are weapons
The story is never about conduct.
It’s about survival.
From Man to Myth: Why Supporters Mirror the Language
This is where the danger compounds.
Once a leader becomes a symbol…rather than a person…supporters stop evaluating behavior…they start defending identity.
Notice how quickly criticism turns into phrases like:
“They’re coming for Trump”
“This is about destroying Trump”
“Trump represents us”
When the leader speaks in the third person…supporters follow.
And when that happens:
Loyalty replaces judgment
Criticism feels existential
Evidence feels irrelevant
Accountability feels like treason
This is not unique to Trump.
But it is textbook authoritarian psychology.
The leader ceases to be fallible.
The leader becomes the group.
Why This Matters More Than Policy
Some readers may ask:
“So what? He talks weird. There are bigger problems.”
That’s understandable…but incomplete.
Language reveals how power is processed.
Leaders who speak in the first person can:
Apologize
Learn
Adjust
Share responsibility
Experience moral restraint
Leaders who speak in the third person:
Perform instead of reflect
Defend instead of evaluate
Escalate instead of correct
Externalize instead of integrate
This has downstream effects on:
Decision-making
Crisis response
Use of force
Treatment of dissent
Respect for institutions
It’s not about tone.
It’s about whether power…is inhabited as stewardship…or wielded as identity defense.
The Military Contrast: Why This Hits Service Members Harder
For those who have served, this pattern is especially jarring.
From day one in boot camp…service members are taught:
Ownership
Accountability
Chain of responsibility
Respect for the consequences of decisions
“You own what you command.”
“No excuses.”
“Your mistake is your mistake.”
Third-person self-exculpation violates that ethic…at a foundational level.
It signals:
“I am not bound by the same standards you are.”
That is not just offensive.
It is morally destabilizing for people trained to believe leadership…requires personal responsibility.
This Is Not Strategy Alone; It Is Constraint
It’s tempting to assume Trump could change if he wanted to.
The evidence suggests otherwise.
Decades of consistent behavior across:
Business
Media
Politics
Crisis
Praise
Failure
Point to a man locked into a single operating system.
Not because he’s incapable of learning facts…but…because abandoning the “Trump” construct…would feel like ego death.
When you hear him speak in the third person…you’re not hearing calculation.
You’re hearing necessity.
This is the only way he knows how to exist under pressure. You can take that to the bank.
What This Tells Us About the Road Ahead
This matters because people often ask:
“Why doesn’t he just stop?”
Why doesn’t he moderate?
Why doesn’t he soften?
Why doesn’t he show restraint?
Because he can’t…not without psychological collapse.
The third-person speech is not a bug.
It is a survival mechanism.
Which means:
Appeals to conscience won’t work
Shaming won’t work
Exposure won’t work
Normal persuasion won’t work
What works…historically…is institutional friction…not personal appeal.
Rules.
Limits.
Boundaries.
Resistance to normalization.
The Most Dangerous Mistake Is Expecting Change
Many people wait for Trump to become something else.
More presidential.
More restrained.
More reflective.
That wait is a trap.
What you see and hear is not a phase.
It is the full inventory.
When he says “Trump,” believe him.
He is telling you who he is…and who he cannot stop being.
Lastly
This article is not an argument for panic.
It’s an argument for clarity.
Trump’s third-person speech is a signal:
Of symbolic self-identity
Of emotional distancing
Of grievance-based power
Of resistance to accountability
Of a leader who cannot inhabit the human “I”
That doesn’t make collapse inevitable.
But it does make one thing certain:
Waiting for personal transformation is not a strategy.
Understanding constraint…and building systems that don’t rely on character miracles…is.
Because when a man stops saying “I,” the burden shifts to the rest of us…to insist on limits that language…can no longer provide.
#HoldFast
Back soon,
-Jack
P.S. If you want the deeper psychological framework behind why third-person identity is so effective at building loyalty…and how to counter it without feeding it…that analysis is for paid readers. You can find it below.
Paid Subscriber Deep Dive
If the free section helped you notice Trump’s third-person speech…
This section explains why it works…how opposition often reinforces it without realizing it…and what history shows can actually slow leaders…who cannot inhabit personal accountability.
It offers a practical framework…for resisting…without amplifying…and for applying pressure where it matters.
This isn’t about outrage. It’s about strategy.
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