President Trump has the greatest influence on the state of a nation’s psyche and behavior as any President in the last century. Perhaps a greater influence on the state of the world’s psyche more so than anyone since Adolph Hitler.
Today I want to show you how you are influenced by the President in a way you never have been influenced and you’ll also see how anyone can develop the strategy Trump and Obama both used so successfully to change and shape behavior.
Obama incited all the people who didn’t identify with Obama.
Trump incites all the people who don’t identify with Trump.
Obama meticulously calculated every sentence he would utter.
Trump says what is top of mind in the moment at the moment.
In both cases they were both on message every single moment. In 2008 I wrote about how Obama would influence, and then he did, and today, 12 years later I’ll show you how Trump does it and how what those two Presidents have done can change your life and how you successfully influence others…
There is no way to explain Trump’s influence on you, and then how you will use a similar approach, in a tweet. It is quite complex and IS something that can be modeled, ethically, morally, and for the good of your business, family and world.
Step 1: Trump’s influence on YOU begins with a history of branding TRUMP interationally. He positioned himself as a famous buyer, seller and bankrupter of businesses. The TRUMP hotel brand, for example, became iconic. And there was TRUMP Towers. TRUMP adorned all kinds of purchaseables as well. A biography about him sold millions of copies in the 80’s. One of my personal favorite reality shows from more than a decade ago was The Apprentice. While not branded with his name, the large scale purpose of the Top 20 show was to expand the brand, and be profitable for the producers. The goal of the show for contestants was to win a position running one of his companies.
That first step which is many books of documentation to show the “how to” is indeed beyond the scope of this article which is to show you the man’s potent influence on YOU. Remember that influence is about shaping, changing. Donald Trump has shaped you and me both.
And no one likes to agree to those kind of facts because your “feelings” toward the man or the brand aren’t so important as the behaviors and feelings you have toward other humans on the planet.
Trump tweets in support of X and he just sharpened and strengthened the views of all those who dislike X. The fact is the man shapes people, not necessarily how he believes it will occur, but in ways that most won’t see until it’s over.
As you listen/see first hand what the President tweets or when you hear something he says in a news conference, don’t think, “I agree/disagree with that,” or, “I hate/love the guy.” Because you’ve already established that. Instead, think, “How are the people who hate him becoming invigorated to fight that message?” “Even if his message is, ‘I’m doing an amazing job,’ think about his haters and ask yourself, “what are they thinking and feeling right now?”
This makes you aware of how the President influences others to feel stronger, more intensely, etc. Once you can see and feel that influence you understand how YOU influence though not on such a grand scale. Most people can influence 200 people in their life, to like or dislike them. Only those who are branded can influence thousands or millions…or in a rare few cases, a planet.
Before we leave step one… Perhaps you hate the same people he hates. Perhaps you admire the man. Perhaps you love his style. Perhaps you are appalled by his language. Either way, he has taken you and made a dull knife sharper in defense of or in “offensiveness” to others.
It’s not important whether the human was good, bad, beautiful, ugly, smart, stupid. The brand was everywhere. Name recognition was everywhere and a broad swath of the world had an IMPRESSION of what TRUMP meant.
After a quick disclosure Trump’s Step 2.
DISCLOSURE:
Good friend immediately after election 2016.
Angela: “Did you vote for Hillary, Kev?” (Obviously hasn’t followed my work but still has my friendship!)
Kevin: “Hell no.”
Angela: “You voted for Trump?!”
Kevin: “Uh…no. I didn’t vote.”
Angela: “So you voted for Trump because it’s the same thing.”
Kevin: “It takes two people to turn the keys and launch a nuclear missile. I didn’t turn any key. No missile launch.”
Angela’s math skills suck. Kev feels no obligation to do anything but be a good human being, period.
Imagine: You meet two girls. If you don’t marry one of them you didn’t necessarily marry the other one. You simply met them and then kept looking until you found/find the best one for you. It’s really very, very simple.
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Step 1: Have a Platform Theme, Brand and Message
Trump uses Twitter. I imagine he has a Facebook account but all that influences from Trump comes from Twitter and the scientific analyses have been completed to date. He
The findings indicate that President Trump for the first year of Trumps presidential term showed that he tends to tweet about, retweet, and mention (tag) himself, his government, conservative media, and family more than people of opposing political ideologies and the mainstream media. More than a third of his tweets and retweets were positive self-acclaims, especially about his character, his government, family, and conservative media. [Presidential Communication in the “Tweetosphere”: A Functional and Network Analyses of President Trump’s Direct Messaging; Shugofa Dastgeer, Uche Onyebadi]
– Positive Self Acclaim
– re: His Character
– re: His Government
– re: Family
– re: Conservative Media
That resonates with you because it is your experience from reading his tweets in 2017. The research bears out what you intuitively knew. Trump is a potent brand. Switch mental channels and mentally image Kardashian/Jenner/West then switch back. Kris, Kim, Khloe, Kylie, Kanye, etc. are all part of a brand. The same is true of Trump.
Trump himself said in 2017 that if it weren’t for Twitter he may not have been elected President.
