Ah, now we enter the theatre of power—a palace where the grift wears a flag as its cloak, and centuries-old confidence tricks evolve into statecraft-by-spectacle. Let us trace the con artist’s archetypes within the reign of Donald J. Trump—not in partisan fury, but with the careful scalpel of comparative folkloric analysis. Below is a list of confidence games which Trump either used directly, modified, or echoed in spirit, particularly during his presidency (2017–2021), matched with classic con structures, annotated for analysis and historical continuity.
🎩 The Confidence Games of Trumpian Presidency
A Comparative Folklore of Power, Spectacle, and Deception
by Cleo for #GreatguyTV / #CitizenCanada
✧ 1. The Big Store (variant: The Fake Problem Solver)
Classic Con: The Wire
Trump's Adaptation: Trump often created elaborate fictional crises (the southern border “invasion,” the “rigged” election, the war on Christmas) then positioned himself as the only one who could fix them.
Con Mechanics: Invent a system of doom; claim secret knowledge; charge admission (votes, loyalty, money) to survive.
Historical Parallels: “Only I can fix it” – RNC Speech, 2016.
Source:
Maurer, David W. The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man and the Confidence Game. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1940.
✧ 2. The Long Con Grift Loop
Classic Con: The Reload Scam
Trump's Adaptation: After losing the 2020 election, Trump fundraised over $250 million under the pretext of fighting fraud, though much of it went to a PAC he controlled.
Con Mechanics: After the "loss," return as savior, requesting new buy-ins. Never deliver the recovery.
Source:
Farley, Robert. “Trump’s ‘Election Defense Fund’ Doesn’t Exist.” FactCheck.org, June 2021.
Allen, Bud, and Diana Bosta. Games Criminals Play. Rae John Publishers, 1981.
✧ 3. The Shill Game (aka The Looky-Loo Presidency)
Classic Con: Shill bidding, fake customer
Trump's Adaptation: Trump frequently surrounded himself with plants, loyalists, or hype men to simulate popularity—literal paid actors at campaign launches, and cabinet members as sycophants.
Con Mechanics: Make the mark feel left out of something popular and powerful; force participation by peer pressure.
Source:
Green, Jonathon. Green’s Dictionary of Slang. Chambers, 2005.
Leonnig, Carol, and Philip Rucker. I Alone Can Fix It. Penguin Press, 2021.
✧ 4. The Affinity Con (Evangelical Edition)
Classic Con: The Cult Game / Affinity Fraud
Trump's Adaptation: He mirrored language, tone, and values of the Evangelical right, despite personal contradictions.
Con Mechanics: Establish tribal loyalty, echo moral codes, become their flawed-but-chosen vessel.
Source:
Bowler, Kate. The Preacher’s Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Nash, Jay Robert. Hustlers and Con Men. M. Evans, 1976.
✧ 5. The Pig in a Poke (Policy Version)
Classic Con: Selling worthless goods
Trump's Adaptation: Many Trump "wins" (e.g., infrastructure weeks, health care replacements, border wall) were never delivered, but sold as if already real.
Con Mechanics: Sell the future; take credit for imagination; never allow the product to be examined.
Source:
Green, Jonathon. Green’s Dictionary of Slang. Chambers, 2005.
✧ 6. The Reverse Badger Game
Classic Con: Lure victim, then extort
Trump's Adaptation: Trump often invited adversaries into negotiations, then used them for political leverage or humiliation—see his treatment of Republican senators, foreign dignitaries, or Michael Cohen.
Con Mechanics: Trap someone in association, then expose, threaten, or flip them for gain.
Source:
Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of the Underworld. London: Routledge, 1998.
✧ 7. The Confidence Multiplier (or “Doubling Down” Grift)
Classic Con: The Convincer
Trump's Adaptation: Even when caught or criticized, Trump often intensified the lie or deflection. This boldness increased his followers' faith ("If they hated him, he must be doing something right").
Con Mechanics: Reinforce illusion with audacity; confusion becomes loyalty.
Source:
Maurer, David W. The Big Con. Doubleday, 1940.
Lakoff, George. Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004.
✧ 8. The Grift-as-Movement (Cultic Grifter Spiral)
Classic Con: The True Believer Cult
Trump's Adaptation: Followers became emotionally and socially invested, defending him regardless of outcomes—mirroring the sunk-cost fallacy and cult-like loyalty loops.
Con Mechanics: Redefine reality through repetition, weaponize enemies as proof of divinity.
Source:
Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Harper & Row, 1951.
Final Reflection:
These con patterns were not invented by Trump—but mastered in adaptation. The line between showmanship and scam, rhetoric and deception, becomes blurred when the stage is the White House and the stakes are the soul of a nation.
Would you like a second volume for post-presidency grifts, including Truth Social, NFTs, and Georgia lawsuits? Or a diagrammatic “Con Tree” showing Trump’s adaptation path from classic grifter forms?
#GreatguyTV #CitizenCanada #ConGamesOfPower #Trumpology #ConfidencePolitics #ModernGrifts #ChicagoStyleFootnotes #LongConLeadership #PigInAPolicy
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment