Donald J. Trump may be the richest and oldest president in U.S. history, but beneath the glittering headlines lies a portrait of profound emotional and moral poverty — a leader marked not by strength, but by defensiveness, dishonesty, vanity and a disturbing disregard for democratic norms.
Far from the rugged masculinity he claims, his record is steeped in behaviors social science defines as “feminine-coded” — impulsivity, grievance, aesthetics and relational aggression. This is not a response to Trump beating Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris for the presidency, but rather an observation.
Edmond W. Davis
This also is not to elevate “masculine” traits over “feminine” traits but to point out the hypocrisy of those who denigrate women as being inherently “weaker” than men while ascribing to Trump a hyper-masculinity and strength of character he does not possess.
Weak or powerful?
Trump’s defenders call him powerful, but the facts tell a different story.
Yes, he’s likely the richest president in U.S. history. As of 2025, Forbes pegs his net worth at $5.1 billion while Bloomberg estimates $7.08 billion, although Trump has boasted it is many times more.
He also is our oldest president to enter office, at age 70 the first time and then again at age 78 the second time.
Trump holds a record for the most bankruptcies of any U.S. president. Six of his businesses filed for Chapter 11 between 1991 and 2009, including multiple Atlantic City casinos.
He’s the most-sued president to win office. He and his businesses have faced more than 4,000 lawsuits covering fraud, discrimination, defamation and sexual misconduct.
If the presidency reflects the life of the person holding it, Trump imported into the Oval Office the same trail of bankruptcies, lawsuits and chaos that define his business empire.
“Trump imported into the Oval Office the same trail of bankruptcies, lawsuits and chaos that define his business empire.”
And then there’s his mental health.
Mental-health professionals have been unusually candid. In 2024, 225 psychiatrists signed an open letter warning Trump exhibits malignant narcissism — marked by cruelty, lack of empathy and delight in others’ suffering. The Guardian called him a “superspreader of craziness that has split America in two.”
Even conservative strategists have raised alarms about his cognitive decline, citing speech “lapses” and “verbal aphasias.” Not to mention the recent spate of concerns about his declining physical appearance.
And let’s not forget his rampant lying. The Washington Post Fact Checker counted 30,573 false or misleading statements during Trump’s first term — averaging 21 per day, and nearly double that in his final year. Scholars note he deploys the “firehose of falsehood” propaganda model, overwhelming the public with contradictions until exhaustion replaces truth.
Here is the deeper moral crisis: How can so many Americans believe a man is the “chosen one” for the nation while he enriches the wealthy and punishes the poor? This recalls Paul’s words in Romans 11:8: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
Like the Jews once blinded, many voters are blind to Trump’s moral bankruptcy. They see wealth as a blessing, lies as strength and cruelty as toughness. In truth, it is the inverse of Christ’s teachings in Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
The emotional core of ‘catty’ power
Here lies the paradox: Trump isn’t masculine in the traditional sense. Psychologists would code his leadership as feminine in expression — defined not by sexual orientation, but by traits and behaviors culturally coded as feminine. And not only that, he exhibits some of the most negative traits culturally assigned as feminine.
“Trump isn’t masculine in the traditional sense. Psychologists would code his leadership as feminine in expression.”
- Vanity and aesthetics: Trump spends unusual time on his hair, skin tone and appearance. Attacking others’ looks — Rosie O’Donnell, Carly Fiorina — reflects aesthetic insecurity.
- Relational aggression: Social psychologists describe his insults, social media rants and grudge-holding as “relational aggression,” a style more commonly associated negatively with women.
- Victimhood narratives: Instead of stoic toughness, Trump frames himself as persecuted by “witch hunts” and a “deep state.” Dependency-driven grievance is socially coded as nonmasculine.
- Dependence on praise: Trump’s hyper-need for validation — applause at rallies, loyalty pledges from staff — aligns with behaviors often labeled negatively as “feminine-coded.”
Research in gender nonconformity shows low impulse control and high emotional expressivity — Trump’s trademarks — often are classified as “feminine-coded” in men. Psychologists describe him as emotionally expressive yet thin-skinned, a pattern consistent with gender nonconforming leadership.
This is not an attack on his orientation but an observation of expression. If Trump had served in the early 2000s, he likely would have been branded a “metrosexual” — a heterosexual man embracing aesthetics coded as feminine. Today, scholars prefer the neutral term “gender nonconformity.”
Whatever the label, Trump is unequivocally the most feminine president in modern U.S. history, not the most masculine.
Trump uses grievance, vanity and emotional volatility as governing tools. This conflation of femininity and authoritarianism is unprecedented.
Not what he claims
So yes, Donald Trump may be the wealthiest, oldest and most-sued president ever. But more than that, he is categorically the most negatively feminine in emotional expression, grievance and dependency. He is not a model of stoic masculinity — he is emotionally malnourished, catty, needy and perpetually on display.
Yet paradoxically, some still call him “anointed.” Perhaps, as Scripture reminds us, blindness is part of judgment.
In the end, Trump’s legacy is not masculine dominance; it is fragile insecurity masquerading as power. And in that vacuum of emotional balance, democracy suffers.
Edmond W. Davis is a social historian, speaker, collegiate professor, international journalist and former director of the Derek Olivier Research Institute. He is an expert on various historical and emotional intelligence topics. He’s globally known for his work as a researcher regarding the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and Airwomen. He’s the founder of America’s first and only National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest.