🐍 I Knew He Was a Snake

A Trauma-Informed Guide to President Trump’s Projection

💥 Why This Guide Exists

I spent my childhood trying to wriggle out of the tight grip of one of the snakes he talks so enthusiastically about.

The snake’s trick is that at first, you mistake the grip for an embrace.

And then it tightens—just a little at a time—until you can’t move, can’t speak—

and worse, you start to believe this is freedom.

In my case, there was a very small voice deep inside me—quiet, but steady.

Like in The Dark Knight Rises, it kept whispering:

“Rise. Rise. Rise.”

Listen for that voice, brothers and sisters.

And Rise.

Because what we’re watching now isn’t just politics—it’s personal.

What’s happening in this country is triggering for a reason.

President Trump is back in office, and for many of us who’ve fought to heal from psychological abuse, something feels eerily familiar. That feeling in your gut? That sense that the story is shifting and the ground is giving way? It’s not in your head.

This isn’t just about policy.

It’s about projection.

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🧠 What Is Projection?

Projection is a psychological defense mechanism where a person takes the parts of themselves they can’t accept—shame, fear, cruelty—and hurls them at someone else.

It sounds like this:

• “I’m not the liar—you are.”

• “They’re coming after me because they’re corrupt.”

• “I tried to help you, and you turned on me.”

It’s how manipulators protect their egos while controlling the people around them.

And when someone with power does it—especially someone like Trump—it becomes a tool of mass manipulation.

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🐍 Case Study: “The Snake”

The story he tells

Trump has performed “The Snake” countless times—during his first campaign, his presidency, and now again as he returns to power. It’s a poem about a kind woman who takes in a freezing snake. She feeds him, shelters him, and he bites her. As she dies, she asks why.

“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”

He says it’s about immigrants. But many of us hear something different.

We hear a story we were once trapped inside.

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What trauma survivors hear

What He Says:

“She made the mistake of trusting him.”

What We Hear:

“You deserved what you got.”

What He Says:

“The snake warned her.”

What We Hear:

“I never planned to change.”

What He Says:

“He had no choice—it’s his nature.”

What We Hear:

“I hurt you, but it’s your fault.”

The poem isn’t a warning.

It’s a confession wrapped in a performance.

And if you’ve lived through emotional abuse, you can’t unhear it.

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🧠 Pattern Recognition Isn’t Paranoia

People like us—survivors of narcissistic families, controlling relationships, broken systems—we develop instincts.

We learn to read the temperature in a room.

We catch the shift in tone before the blow lands.

We sense when there’s a disturbance in the Force.

So when Trump says:

• “The election was rigged.”

• “The media is the enemy.”

• “They’re coming for you next.”

We know the playbook.

We’ve heard it from people who raised us.

People who hurt us.

People who said they loved us while backing us into a corner.

This isn’t new.

It’s just scaled up.

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🩸 Don’t Tell Anyone — The Snake’s First Command

There’s another trick the snake plays—one I learned early.

Mine used to say, “Don’t tell anyone.”

He said it so often I stopped telling myself.

That’s how shame works. That’s how control works.

You lock it down, then hand over the key.

It’s not that different from a loyalty oath.

Trump may not be calling it that, but a rose is a rose is a rose.

Whether it’s silence in a living room or obedience in a political machine, the point is the same:

Don’t question. Don’t speak. Don’t leave.

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🔍 Trauma Lens: Projection Red Flags in Trump’s Behavior

Behavior:

Constant accusations of lying

Survivor Translation:

Can’t tolerate the truth

Behavior:

Casts himself as the victim

Survivor Translation:

Avoids responsibility

Behavior:

Blames betrayal for cruelty

Survivor Translation:

Justifies harm

Behavior:

Uses parables like “The Snake”

Survivor Translation:

Externalizes guilt for control

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💬 Listen to That Voice

If your body tightens when you hear him speak—listen to it.

If your breath catches, if your memories stir, if your survival instincts start to hum—don’t second-guess them.

You are not overreacting.

You are not alone.

You are not the problem.

You are the person who got away.

And you still have that voice inside you.

The one that whispers:

“Rise. Rise. Rise.”

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🔜 Next in the Series

“It Was Rigged!” — When Election Lies Are Really About Losing Control

Coming Thursday, June 27