Soon Trump will lose the aphrodisiac of power. Is it his most precious possession!

By Donald A. Collins | 8 September 2026
Church and State

(Credit: YouTube / screengrab)

People so often look for rare high points in life, such as wealth and prestige.

These accomplishments when fulfilled could provide stimulation and happiness, and for a few these boosts accompany the major aphrodisiac of all which is the acquiring of major power, which certainly has been achieved by our present President.

Trump is building his East wing ballroom while we are amidst HIS Iran war, a war which looks like it will last a very long time, but Trump, still two years from losing his Presidential office power, he keeps the aphrodisiac he prizes most highly POWER.

People who give priority to gaining, having and using huge power at some point, lose it, and that must create for them the worst depression of all.

It seems rather if Trump is punished for his misdeeds, he will certainly have considerable immunity, thanks to our saddest Supreme Court in history, but just finding himself unable to do the terrible things he has now done will require him to suffer.

His primary mentor, Roy Cohen gave him six lessons including never apologizing, but thanks to Berrett-Koehler Staff excerpted from the book, “The Last American President” you can read them all here:

1. Never apologize or admit wrongdoing, ever. Cohn viewed contrition as weakness and would rather die (literally, as it turned out) than acknowledge error or fault. As journalist Ken Auletta, who covered Cohn extensively, noted, “The idea that you can admit a mistake is not part of Roy’s genetic code.” This principle would become so fundamental to Trump’s approach that even faced with irrefutable evidence—a recorded confession of sexual assault on the Access Hollywood tape, for instance—he would deny, deflect, and attack rather than offer the slightest acknowledgment of impropriety.

2. Always counter-attack, and always with greater force than you received. When criticized or accused, Cohn’s response was invariably to hit back harder, to escalate, to make the accuser regret ever mentioning his name. As Cohn himself explained to a reporter: “I bring out the worst in my enemies, and that’s how I get them to defeat themselves.” This tactic became Trump’s signature move, whether attacking Gold Star parents who criticized him, mocking a disabled reporter who questioned his claims, or threatening critics with lawsuits and retribution.

3. Use the legal system as a weapon, not a recourse for justice. Cohn taught Trump that lawsuits were instruments of intimidation, not vehicles for dispute resolution. He filed cases not to win—though winning was nice—but to punish, to harass, and to silence. The expense and stress of litigation was the point, not the legal outcome. Trump would eventually be involved in over 3,500 lawsuits—an unprecedented number for any American businessperson or politician—using the courts not to seek justice but to exhaust opponents with fewer resources.

4. Manipulate the media ruthlessly. Cohn was a master at planting stories, cultivating journalists, and creating controversy to serve his ends. He understood that perception trumped reality, that bold claims often went unchallenged, and that most people would remember the accusation but not the retraction. Trump elevated this approach to an art form, calling reporters using pseudonyms like “John Barron” to plant favorable stories about himself, staging pseudo-events to attract coverage, and later, using Twitter to bypass media filters entirely and inject his unfiltered messages directly into the public consciousness.

5. Use fear as both shield and sword. Cohn understood that people who are afraid—of communists, of crime, of social change, of the “other”—are easier to manipulate and more willing to accept authoritarian solutions. He helped McCarthy weaponize the Red Scare, stoking paranoia about secret communists undermining America from within. Trump would adapt this tactic to the 21st century, stoking fears about immigrants, Muslims, “inner city” crime, and later, a “deep state” conspiracy, always positioning himself as the only solution to these terrifying threats.

6. Build a fortress of loyalty around yourself. Cohn demanded absolute devotion from his clients and associates, and he repaid it in kind, at least until they were no longer useful. He created a network of mutual obligation and fear that served as both sword and shield in his battles. Trump’s infamous demand for loyalty—from James Comey, from his cabinet members, from Republican legislators—and his swift punishment of perceived disloyalty, all echo Cohn’s approach to power.

Trump has certainly followed instructions perfectly, but Cohen himself ended life very sad and basically unfulfilled even after his vicious immoral life.

Historian Ka Bird Just wrote a book on Roy Cohn entitled American Scoundrel “whose shocking exploits over four decades have shaped the modern political era, most prominently the ascent of Donald Trump.” Bird In a recent TV interview recounted the story that when trump attended the 1986 memorial service for Cohn, Trump was seen by some as crying in the back of the room which is the first time anyone had noted such a motion. Bird wondered if this was his only true friend.

The Right-wing majority on the US Supreme Court gave the gift of immunity to Trump to be effective while he is in office which will certainly stand him in good staid, but I doubt that it will protect his family and the list of absolute loyalists.

Also, I wonder if the Jeffrey Epstein files disclose immoral Trump behavior, if that constitutes immunity since it was conducted over a long period of years in multiple locations.

One of the great stories about the loss of huge power is told by Robert Caro in his book about Robert Moses who was the most powerful developer of parks and other facilities in New York City who was ousted from power after 30 years of dominance only to spend the last decade of his life in utter frustration since he could not regain that famous aphrodisiac and died in utter frustration at his expulsion from ultimate power.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography reveals the incredible power and influence of Robert Moses, who shaped 20th-century New York. You don’t want to miss it!

Every human, either good or bad, can have high points, withdrawn or confirmed, but only temporarily, as we are all faced with death. People with no conscience or care of anything or anybody, except their own fulfillment, will perhaps feel the withdrawal of power more intensely.

Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Donald A. Collins, a free lance writer living in Los Angeles, CA, has spent over 60 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas. Yale under graduate, NYU MBA. He is the author of 17 books: “From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013”, “Trump Becoming Macbeth: Will our democracy survive?”, “We Humans Overwhelm Our Earth: 11 or 2 Billion by 2100?”, “What Can Be Done Now to Save Habitable Life on Planet Earth?”, “Vote”, “Can Homo Sapiens Survive?”, “Will Choice and Democracy Win?”, “Can Our U.S. Survive 8 Plus Billion of Us”, “Economic Growth: A Cancer on all Earthly Life”, “On the Precipice of Political Disaster in 2024”, “Democracy at Red State Risk”, “Does Trump Go to Jail or to The Oval Office?”, “Trump: Pardon or Punish?: The Nixon Precedence Was Not A Trump Coup Denied!”, “Common Sense: When will Trump be Impeached, Indicted, and Exited?”, “Trump–unrestrained dangerous liar!”, “Our Ethnic Mix May Save Us!” and “Trump will be gone before November 3, 2026!”.

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