Most people realize that Donald Trump is a master of projection – whatever he is guilty of, he projects onto others.  Whether this is an unconscious psychological mechanism or he is deliberately doing it according to the advice of Nazi master propagandist Joseph Goebbels (“Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty”) is unclear.  But what is clear is that the news media have not paid enough attention to Trump’s projection.  If they had, they’d have known much earlier what areas to pursue in uncovering his crimes and other sins.  Here are some examples:

Trump Charge: “Crooked Hillary” used the Clinton Foundation in a pay-for play scheme “it’s called pay-for-play . . . it’s illegal. You’re paying and you’re getting things.”

Press Inquiry: This should have triggered a two-fold inquiry: 1) Investigating whether the Trump Foundation actually did anything charitable, instead of only paying Trump properties for hosting “charity events” or making payouts to settle lawsuits against Trump personally or the Trump Organization, as has now been alleged in a case filed by the NY Attorney General (which claims the Trump Foundation made “repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump’s personal and business interests”); 2) The press should also have been on the lookout from the outset of the Trump Administration for pay-for-play schemes throughout the White House and the Cabinet (related to SWAMP, below).

Trump Charge: Washington is a SWAMP.  We’re going to DRAIN THE SWAMP!!

Press Inquiry: Trump double-dealing, seeking to enrich himself from government (foreign and domestic) use of his properties, selling government largesse to those who benefit him or his family personally (propping up China’s ZTE by lowering sanctions after the Chinese gave him a $500 million loan for an Indonesian resort development, changing government policy depending on who bails Jared out) or his Cabinet (virtually everything Scott Pruitt does, with Betsy DeVos and Ryan Zinke not far behind). It’s clear there is a need to examine Trump Cabinet for behavior that makes Ulysses S. Grant’s & Warren G. Harding’s look like collections of choir boys.

Trump Charge: Clinton did not safeguard her emails (used a private server!) and was a security risk

Press Inquiry: Follow up on reports that Jared & Ivanka use a private server, Trump uses an unsecure phone (or in his case, perhaps it should be called an insecure phone), and blurts out state secrets to adversaries.

Trump Charge: Brutal separations of children from their parents along our southern border are required by a law passed by the Democrats.

Press Inquiry: This is one where the press (and other Twitter users) have actually investigated and determined that there is no such law, and, in fact, Trump’s Attorney General and Press Secretary have announced and vigorously defended the Administration’s policy that resulted in these actions.  Still, it is only occasionally that Trump or his officials are confronted with the simple fact that they are making this all up and blaming others for his own heinous policy.

Finally, it should be noted that Trump has projected his personal insecurities onto America.  Thus, despite having been born into great privilege and receiving every advantage, he nonetheless loves to portray himself as the “real” victim of unfair treatment, far worse than anybody in the history of the world has received.  (Holocaust victims, for one, would disagree that he has suffered more than anybody else). Trump has now begun to conduct foreign policy with this same attitude.  The recent dust-up with the other G-7 countries in general, and Canada and Justin Trudeau, in particular, is a great example.  Despite the U.S. being clearly the most powerful country in the world, Trump has created a narrative in which the U.S. is “taken advantage of,” in trade, in costs of providing defense, etc. In an effort not to let anyone (except Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un) get the best of him/ America, Trump has decided to start ill-conceived trade wars, based on such specious grounds as the Canadian Prime Minister saying Canada won’t be bullied is being underhanded and double dealing.

Trump’s serious flaws, including moral deficiencies, thus have serious consequences for all Americans, not just him and his friends.  The press and opposition in Congress cannot let up in pushing back against this.