One of the immediate turn-offs of Donald Trump that initially caused people to despise him is his personality. He is crass, bombastic, and egotistical. This is the reason the people who love Trump love him, and it is also the reason those who hate Trump hate him. In 2024, a large mass of people who previously didn't like Trump began to soften toward him, if not outright like him. They voted for Trump in '24 despite voting against him in the previous two elections. This group includes Elon Musk, David Sacks, Mark Andreessen, Bill Ackman, Naval Ravikant, JD Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr., Joe Rogan, and among others (including myself). Some may have quietly voted for Trump in the past, but the super-intelligent people from Silicon Valley and Wall Street have come out publicly to support Trump for the first time this year. Why now? What has changed?
Certainly not Trump. He is the same crass, bombastic, egotistic person as ever. Though he has softened somewhat following the assassination attempt, and his podcast appearances helped show a more human side to Trump, as opposed to the full "showman mode" that he often presents in public speeches. We got to see him joke around, which helped me and many others like him more. But that's not the main thing that has changed.
It's more that we've come to realize that much of the anti-Trump opinions we had of him were formed by the anti-Trump media and their unfair coverage, including outright lies. Such as the "very fine people hoax" to paint him as a racist and the "Russian collusion" hoax to frame him as a traitor. When you hear story after story for years about how terrible Trump is, you start to think where there's smoke, there must be fire. But what I and many others have come to realize is that, no—it really is just smoke. It's hard to believe that all those negative stories about Trump are fake news, but they are. It has been anti-Trump hoax after hoax manufactured by the media and deep state (which overlap in many respects). Why do they hate this one man so much? Because he is the only president in recent history not owned and operated by the deep state.
I moved from Trump derangement in 2016 to Trump ambivalence in 2020, but the moment I first really started to gain sympathy for Trump was the lawfare launched against him during his campaign leading up to 2024. When the Democratic regime started weaponizing the justice system to prosecute Trump for a petty misdemeanor bookkeeping error that was past the statute of limitations and wasn't even Trump's fault, but his accountant's--when they convicted him for that--it was a step too far. I believe Naval has likewise said that was a line in the sand for him, and it might have been for Elon as well. They knew that if such a lawfare precedent was set, it would likely come for them in the future.
Soon after that was the assassination attempt, which was the true final straw for me, and apparently Elon, because that's when Musk first came out to publicly endorse Trump. The assassination attempt was a Rubicon moment where enough was enough. Quiet Trump supporters and people on the fence couldn't stay silent or neutral any longer. Musk was probably already leaning toward supporting Trump in 2024 due to the lawfare, but the assassination attempt was a clear sign that he had to take public action to help Trump win the election. Seeing Trump stand up and defiantly raise a fist shouting "Fight, fight, fight!" to the crowd was an iconic moment that proved he wasn't just a phony doing this for his ego—he was the real deal. He is not running for president for publicity or money—why risk your life for things you already have? Trump showed extraordinary courage under literal fire, which is highly inspirational, especially to men. They call him a narcissist, yet he is putting his life on the line to save America.
In short, all the super-smart people have come around to support Trump in 2024 because they realized Trump isn't nearly as bad as they thought he was, while they realized Trump's enemies are far worse than they ever could have imagined.
This is not to say Trump is perfect. Of course he is not. He's still got his problems. I had many more issues with Trump's policies in the past, such as him being anti-Bitcoin and hiring a plethora of neocons in his cabinet. But that is another thing that has changed with Trump. This time around, he has improved his policies. He's embraced Bitcoin and has assembled a much better team around him, with people like Elon, Vivek, Vance, RFK, and Tulsi. As long as he hires people like that instead of the neocons, this second Trump presidency will be a lot different--and a lot better.
But still, Trump has that same crass personality... It is his personality that keeps so many otherwise smart people from endorsing him. But what I and many others have come to realize is that Trump's narcissistic personality is a feature, not a bug. Only an extreme narcissist with an enormous ego like Trump could have withstood the relentless attacks against him from the media day after day for years, calling him everything from a racist to a sexist to a fascist to a traitor, a criminal, and "literally Hitler." Most people would shrink from that public onslaught and run the other way, repeatedly apologize and try to explain themselves to restore their public image. But Trump didn't care because he already knew he was great. All the insults and lies rolled off his back like water, and he kept going. Only an extreme narcissist could have withstood those constant attacks on his character. Trump took those arrows so that others could follow.
Now someone like JD Vance can take Trump's good policies and present them in a more intelligent and sensible manner. But the only way for someone to break through the tightly controlled Overton window with Trump's MAGA policies was to be a narcissist who could withstand all the inevitable attacks from the neocon and neoliberal deep state establishment that would be hurled towards him. Trump still says and does things that disappoint me, but I've come to accept that comes with the territory. He's still doing more good than bad, and has the chance to do some truly great things over the next four years (or more specifically give his team the power to do them).
The never-Trump conservatives who continue to hate Trump and refuse to vote for him because of "his personality," are so lost--they can't see what time it is. They can't recognize Trump for what he is: a flawed character, yes, but one who is a historically significant political figure who is saving the Republic from a globalist takeover. Only someone with Trump's extreme narcissistic personality could have done that. The only way for a modern president to achieve things worthy of being put on Mount Rushmore is to be so confident and egotistical that he believes he should be on Mount Rushmore before even achieving those things. Donald J. Trump is that man.