THE MALIGNANT NARCISSIST IN WINTER

Politico tells us that Palm Beach, Florida, is likely to become the post-inaugural capital of MAGA Nation.

The center of gravity for the MAGA universe is moving zip codes with President Donald Trump.

In anticipation of Trump setting up permanent residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach after leaving the White House in January, Trump allies, conservative media firebrands and MAGA-boosting activist groups are setting up the next Trumpy hub of GOP power.

Some Trump supporters have settled in South Florida, drawn by Florida’s friendly tax climate and the state’s current GOP leadership. Other prominent MAGA groups, like the student organizing outfit Turning Point USA, are holding events in the area. And the next Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual gathering of the GOP’s most conservative factions, will even be held a couple hours drive north, in Orlando.

Meanwhile, the president and First Lady Melania Trump are renovating their private quarters at Mar-a-Lago to prepare for a permanent return. And, with an eye toward their political future, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have reportedly bought a multi-million dollar property in an exclusive part of Miami. The Trump kids plan to spend more time in Palm Beach, unless Eric’s wife Lara Trump ends up running for Senate in North Carolina, according to a person close to the family.

It seems as if this could really be a right-wing power center after January 20. There's just one problem: Trump doesn't want to have a right-wing power center. Trump wants to be a right-wing power center. No, let me rephrase that: Trump wants to be the right-wing power center. He doesn't want competition from Jared, Ivanka, and various young, ambitious conservatives -- not to mention Governor Ron DeSantis, who probably think he could be elected president someday. (I wish I believed he couldn't.) Trump will want to be the center of attention in Florida. The rest of these folks have a different idea: They want to leverage Trump's presence on their own behalf. He won't like that.

I'm thinking about CNN's gossipy reporting on the doings in Florida:

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump headed back to Washington Thursday morning in a departure that was earlier than anticipated....

Trump left Palm Beach before his annual New Year's Eve party, even though guests had already gathered at his south Florida club and were told Trump would be in attendance....

He had been in an irritated mood during most of the trip and fumed about everything from the election outcome to Melania Trump's renovations to his private quarters, according to multiple people who spoke with him.

Yes, the renovation did not go over well, according to CNN.

His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Donald Trump's liking, and he was mad about it, according to a source familiar with the President's response.

Several weeks in the works, the renovations, undertaken to make the approximately 3,000-square-foot space feel larger and updated in preparation for the Trumps post-White House life, didn't appeal to Trump's aesthetics, according to his reaction. Trump was also displeased with other renovations at the property, the source said, not just in the living space....

It was Melania Trump, and her interior decorator, Tham Kannalikham, who selected many of the details on the renovations, however, not Mar-a-Lago staff, a fact of which Trump was well aware.

Other political figures jockeying for prominence and Melania taking over the design of his living quarters! It's all too much!

I'm thinking about a Twitter thread from the Hoarse Whisperer:

“This isn’t a lavish club you sometimes visit as its wealthy owner anymore. It’s your residence... because you lost your primary residence - the White House - and can’t go back to the prior one - your New York place.”

That was likely a bomb to his already wounded psyche.

8/

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) December 31, 2020

Trump couldn’t face the people he used to rush to see. He pathologically NEEDS ego fuel the way an addict needs a fix. And they were his supply.

Trump is in very bad shape.

Alone, isolated, rendered helpless by the dysfunction of his narcissism, he is in a bad, bad spot.

9/

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) December 31, 2020

I wonder if Trump will give up on the idea of making Florida his home-in-exile. I wonder if, contrary to what the Hoarse Whisperer writes, Trump will start traveling to New York, setting up his old Trump Tower digs, or some other site at one of his properties, as a gold-plated mancave where Melania, Javanka, DeSantis, Roger Stone, and Charlie Kirk can't steal his thunder, but Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie will fawn on him with the subservience to which he's grown accustomed. Or maybe he'll establish a gilded outpost at the Trump Hotel in D.C., where he'll await the Restoration.

Or, of course, he could remain in Florida and be miserable, as other people steal his spotlight. That would be fine with me.