Donald Trump is a man incapable of recognizing his own mistakes. And therefore of learning from them. If something goes wrong for him, it is never his fault: it is always someone else’s fault.
We all know, at least in words, that mistakes are useful for learning. We all make mistakes, because we are human: the important thing is to realize them, and try to correct them. But to do so we must have the humility, and the courage, to know how to recognize them.
It seems obvious, but it isn’t. Because there are people who cannot accept that they have made a mistake. It often happens to very authoritarian or very narcissistic people. And often the two characteristics go hand in hand. During the fascist era, the motto “Il Duce is always right” was widespread: in fact, Mussolini would never have admitted he was wrong. And today a protagonist on the world stage who behaves in the same way, categorically refusing to admit his own mistakes, is Donald Trump.
Trump is a pathological narcissist. He always wants to be the center of attention, and he is willing to do anything to win. In fact, the greatest sin, for him, is being a “loser”: a loser. You have to win. Always. No matter what the cost.
For Trump, anyone who makes a mistake is a loser. Not someone who can learn from his mistakes, but a miserable loser. And this deformed and pathological mentality of his pushes him to always present himself in an arrogant, presumptuous, overbearing way. From Marchese del Grillo: “I am me, and you are nothing”. Anyone with a minimum of psychological knowledge understands that this attitude, similar to that of bullies, serves to hide a deep internal insecurity. But that’s how it is: Trump lost the televised duel against Kamala Harris, but he says he won it. Or that the duel was rigged. Of course: he will never admit that he could have done better. He is the man who said he had never made a mistake in his life, and that he “deserves 10 in everything he has done”. In the last elections he did not acknowledge his defeat against Biden: he invented electoral fraud. A strategy that, almost certainly, he will repeat if he loses this election too. He, Donald, never makes mistakes and never loses: if something doesn’t go right, it’s always the fault of others, bad and evil, who are against him. He therefore does not take responsibility for his defeats.
Trump’s childish, spoiled child mentality prevents him from learning: he was born learned. And from listening to the advice of others. He is liked by those who see in him a messiah, an infallible man, above all others: and in fact some extremist Christians even consider him chosen by Jesus. But only with humility can one grow, while Trump maintains the mentality of a teenage bully at almost 80 years old.
If we want to grow in life, let’s do the opposite of Trump. Who is a man as rich and powerful as he is poor and weak in spirit. Let’s openly and sincerely acknowledge our shortcomings. It is not a sign of weakness, but of inner strength. We all make mistakes. But none of us are wrong. Not even Trump.