Unlearning the Myth of Trump Being Able to “Grow”
- john raymond
- Sep 7
- 2 min read
One of the most persistent—and pernicious—myths of American political commentary is that men who lust for dictatorial power can “grow.” For a decade now, columnists, senators, and pundits have pushed out copy declaring that President Trump was finally “turning over a new leaf,” “learning the ropes,” or “becoming presidential.”
This myth has done immense damage, because it has granted authoritarian behavior a perpetual probation period that never ends. The evidence is clear: Trump has never grown, never improved, never “learned” in the moral sense of that word.
The myth was false from the beginning, and those who sold it were not just naïve—they are complicit.
The Susan Collins Problem
Susan Collins became the high priestess of this delusion. After each Trump outrage, she would intone that “he has learned his lesson.” Time and again, she was wrong. But more than wrong, she was lying to herself and to the public. Her role was not to predict Trump’s growth, but to launder her own cowardice as statesmanship.
By pretending that Trump might change, she justified her refusal to confront him. That is what makes this myth so poisonous: it allows collaborators to mask cravenness as prudence.
The Media’s Collusion
Collins was not alone. From The New York Times to cable networks, editorial desks ran stories speculating on “a new, more disciplined Trump,” “the pivot,” “the softening tone.”
Every cycle, they wrote the same scripts. None of it was true. Every cycle, Trump escalated—more cruelty, more corruption, more sabotage.
But the myth was profitable. It created suspense, it kept readers hooked, it gave elites a way to avoid taking a stand. Engagement was served, truth was not.
The Truth of Trump
Authoritarians do not “grow” into democrats. Their survival depends on escalating power, not restraining it.
To imagine Trump could evolve into a responsible steward of institutions was to misunderstand both the man and the structure of autocracy. He cannot become better, because to do so would mean ceasing to be what keeps him in power.
The lesson of the decade is not that Trump resists growth, but that his enablers resist honesty.
The Real Traitors
At this late stage, anyone who writes a column premised on Trump “changing for the better” should be treated as a traitor to the republic—because they are repeating the same enabling pattern that allowed his authoritarianism to metastasize unchecked.
They should be laughed at, ridiculed, shunned. Their bylines should be remembered as collaborators in the normalization of dictatorship.
Just the Essentials
Unlearning this myth is essential. No one “grows” into democracy after choosing authoritarianism. No man who seeks dictatorial power learns lessons that turn him back into a republican citizen.
Trump has never grown and never will.
Susan Collins was wrong every time she pretended otherwise. So was every pundit, every editorial page, every think tank fellow who polished the lie.
The truth only has one answer to this myth: never again indulge the fantasy of Trumpian growth, not when the only trajectory is regression into tyranny.
To repeat the myth now is not innocence. It is complicity. It is treason.
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