Summary of Steven Hassan's The Cult of Trump

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 Trump’s first cabinet meeting was bizarre and unsettling. The country had already witnessed the almost daily onslaught of bizarre and contradictory statements and behavior coming from the Trump White House, but this should have been different.

#2 Trump’s cabinet members may not have been passionate followers when they first met Trump, but they were still tied to him due to the immense power they could potentially have.

#3 Cult leaders and regimes exert their power in a systematic fashion. They control information, and people learn to trust only the publications and news that come from the group itself. They create impossible standards of performance, and members feel guilty and ashamed if they don’t meet them.

#4 Trump’s supporters are typically those who are absolute, black-and-white, and thought-stopping in their thinking. They learn a new vocabulary that conforms to group ideology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669381587

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Insights on Steven Hassan's The Cult of Trump

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Trump’s first cabinet meeting was bizarre and unsettling. The country had already witnessed the almost daily onslaught of bizarre and contradictory statements and behavior coming from the Trump White House, but this should have been different.

#2

Trump’s cabinet members may not have been passionate followers when they first met Trump, but they were still tied to him due to the immense power they could potentially have.

#3

Cult leaders and regimes exert their power in a systematic fashion. They control information, and people learn to trust only the publications and news that come from the group itself. They create impossible standards of performance, and members feel guilty and ashamed if they don’t meet them.

#4

Trump’s supporters are typically those who are absolute, black-and-white, and thought-stopping in their thinking. They learn a new vocabulary that conforms to group ideology.

#5

After World War II, American intelligence agencies began to aggressively engage in mind control research. The CIA performed drug, electroshock, and hypnosis experiments on human subjects to develop new ways of extracting information and confessions from Soviet spies and other captives.

#6

During the late 1960s and 1970s, cults began to proliferate. Some of them, like the Charles Manson group, made headlines. The biggest cult story of the time was the 1978 massacre in Jonestown, Guyana, which resulted in the death of 908 followers of Jim Jones.

#7

The rise of cults can be attributed to a few other factors as well. Among the most fundamental is the breakdown of families and communities, as well as the growing sense that our society is in disarray.

#8

Trump’s cult-like behavior can be seen in how he runs his businesses and office. His family members are the first tier of trusted business advisors, and his cabinet and Republican members of Congress are the second. His fans and supporters are the lowest tier.

#9

Trump’s support comes from the Republican Party, the Christian right, libertarian groups, the National Rifle Association, and white supremacy groups. He has depended on advisors such as Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, and