by Adele

Steven Hassan, author of The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control, began studying how cults operate after leaving the Moonies (aka The Unification Church) in the 1970s. After spending over two years mentally controlled by this religion-like group, worshipping its leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, his parents introduced him to a “deprogrammer.” He became a cult-exit therapist, adapting “deprogramming” techniques into his Strategic Interactive Approach. This inspires people to think their own way out of controlling situations.

RELIEF AT ‘ESCAPING FROM A CULT’

In his book, Hassan explains how so many people could support Trump for President in spite of his criminal activity, bullying personality, and nonsensical campaign speeches. He explains why some Trump supporters become fanatical, undergoing a personality change. George Conway, in the 2024 edition’s foreword, echoes many former Republicans observing that the MAGA movement has made their party cult-like. Former members of Trump’s inner circle often say they feel they escaped from a cult.

Hassan revisits ideas from his books: Combatting Cult Mind Control (1988) and Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs (2012). A cult is defined as a group exerting undue coercive influence over its members, often with a charismatic leader. Hassan’s model, Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotions—BITE for short—describes how cults control members. Cults can be centered around themes of religion, politics, psychotherapy/education, or commerce. They can consist of millions of members or simply an abuser and victim in a relationship. Human traffickers and pimps are cult leaders, using the same tactics of grooming and control.

Cult leaders are malignant narcissists who enjoy controlling others. Hassan describes how Trump fits this profile and how his personality was deformed by his upbringing, like other cult leaders. Hassan and his colleagues who study cults, especially former members, recognize the numerous cult techniques Trump uses on his inner circle and followers in the general public. These are also the personality traits and techniques of dictators.

Potential cult members are deceptively recruited and “love bombed” at vulnerable times in their lives. They are prepared for a personality change by undermining their sense of reality, often subjected to sleep deprivation and isolation from family and friends, putting them off balance. The leader subjects them to hypnotic, repetitive, contradictory speeches. They are kept busy and the cult controls all aspects of their lives. They are told they belong to a special, elite group and only their leader knows how to solve the problems of a world headed for disaster.

THE POWER OF ‘DISORIENTING LANGUAGE’

Unknowingly, the victims gradually participate in their own oppression. They strive for impossible goals and standards of purity. Personal boundaries are eliminated through constant confession of supposed shortcomings. The leader alternates praising and shaming. They practice “thought stopping,” blocking out information not approved by the leader. The victims deliberately adopt new identities, rejecting their supposedly sinful old selves and families. They are granted responsibility for recruiting and indoctrinating new victims to “save” them from the world’s evils. Following the doctrine of the cult becomes more important than protecting and not harming actual people. If they leave, they are harassed and used as examples of disgraced, sinful failures.

Trump’s nonsensical, rambling speeches, full of repetition, contradiction, and lies, are a deliberate use of the cult leader’s technique of disorienting language. He tells followers they are in a special group and he loves them. He creates an alternate reality—only he can solve the disasters caused by “evil” outsiders such as immigrants and Democrats. He shames and ejects “enemies” at his rallies and constantly tries to humiliate political opponents. Thought stopping phrases like “Lock Her Up” and “Build the Wall” distract followers from so-called “fake news.” Trump-promoting right-wing media like Fox News use the cult technique of restricting and controlling information. Religious Right organizations that created these outlets are also cults.

Trump treats his inner circle the same way. His televised first cabinet meeting had no discussion of policies. It resembled a staff meeting of the Unification Church with attendees only praising their leader. Trump often condemns appointees previously praised, claiming betrayal, with the highest turnover rate of any Presidency.

The insights of Hassan and fellow cult experts are increasingly important. Trump and the religious Right intend to replace democracy with authoritarianism. There are also cults aligning themselves with the Left. Digital technology became a major tool for indoctrination and control. Hassan emphasizes the importance of former members in exposing cults and explaining control. This is relevant to recent social media discussions of whether women in online pornography are victims or have “agency” and can “do what they want with their own bodies.” Victims often become perpetrators, grooming younger victims and glamorizing the sex industry. It is necessary to look at the big picture, comprehending how people are manipulated into doing things they wouldn’t do previously. These insights also relate to coercive control in domestic abuse.

Some cut ties with Trump cultists, but Hassan says it’s vital to reach out instead. He explains how to have a mutual conversation, empowering cult followers to reconnect with their authentic selves. He says, “Freedom of mind—which includes critical thinking, pursuing facts, listening to one’s conscience, and acting with integrity—is the foundation of all our other freedoms, including freedom of religion.” This book gives hope and concrete steps for defeating authoritarianism and creating community.