A Canadian man in his 40’s recently sent me a curious dream he experienced in which the new U.S President appears as a central character. The dream has many similarities to other politically-related dreams I have gathered over the years, especially in the way it portrays a surprisingly friendly, casual, and pleasing interaction between the dreamer and a powerful political figure. People reported several oneiric encounters like this involving Bill Clinton in the early 1990’s and Barack Obama beginning in 2007. Such dreams can be viewed as an index of political charisma and a unique lens for evaluating the qualities that make a politician more or less appealing.
In this case, the dreamer is not an American citizen, but he knows a lot about the new American President from many years of media exposure prior to the 2016 election. Here is the dream (which he agreed to let me share—thanks!!):
From what I can recall, I was sitting at some convention that I knew the President would be attending, actually I was sitting in a seat that was fairly close to the front of the room thinking to myself... I’m probably not supposed to be in these seats… then I look over to my left and Mr. Trump sits right down beside me. I was a little star struck and didn’t really know what to say even if my mind was full of questions…He looks at me and said “is there something you’d like to know?” I reply, may I see your wallet? He (without hesitation) reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a black wallet and says, here it is… Flips through the flaps and shows me his I.D. and noticed I looked a little disappointed. He asked, “what’s wrong? did you expect something different?” I said “i thought the president’s wallet would be fatter and full of cash.” he said “you noticed I didn’t have a bunch of bills in there, I didn’t realize you’d be looking so closely.” Well I replied “i didn’t say anything because I figured you either have a bunch of cash separately in your other pocket in a bill clip and just didn’t say anything about it.” Then he leaned back, smiled as he reached into his other front pocket and pulled out a wad of Benjamin’s and it was thick.. I’d guess a 4 or 5 grand, he put it in my hand and then covered it with his other hand giving me a reassuring smile as if his face was saying, “it’s ok, take it.” so i gratefully did and said thank you and left from the seat wanting to head back to my family and show them what he just gave me. When I turned around to show them where I was sitting, there was already a crowd around there and I couldn’t see him anymore… But the bunch of cash was still in my hand, so large it was hard to keep in the roll in my fist…then i went on to dream other things… but in the following dreams that night I had that money in my pocket… it was really neat.
I asked the dreamer if he found anything surprising or puzzling about all this, and he replied:
No, nothing really puzzling. Was a little surprised when he handed me a bunch of money...(because i didn’t earn it from him). but pleased :) I think i was also star struck at the same time because you know... he will always be “The Donald” to me. A man of power and owner of property and “YOUR FIRED” :) Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary seeing as it was just a dream filled with brain matter for my neighbour’s countries President.
I also asked if he has any political leanings of his own, and he said “Well honestly, I am really not politically minded at all.” This is actually rather unusual, because I often hear about political dreams from people who are either passionately in favor of or passionately opposed to a particular politician.
Many intriguing features in this dream! It’s a long and coherent narrative, with extended thoughts, reflections, and conversations. This is certainly not a dream filled with random fragments of nonsense. On the contrary, it reflects a high degree of mental clarity in the dream state, often a sign of important meaning. Besides the strange presence of the President, there’s nothing physically impossible or surrealistically bizarre about this dream. It portrays an interaction that’s improbable, but could actually happen.
This seems to be a key feature of politically-related dreams. The normal, everyday setting brings the political figure into a realm where the dreamer is already familiar and comfortable. In this way the dreams bridge the psychological distance between political leaders and ordinary people, creating a symbolic arena in which the dreamer can explore possible ways of relating to a given politician.
The focus of this dream’s attention is on the President’s money, which at first seems limited but then turns out to be a large amount, which he benevolently gives to the dreamer.
What does this mean? Every dream has multiple dimensions, and only the dreamer can know for sure what is the most important level of meaning. But I can imagine people from various perspectives offering the following possible interpretations of this dream:
Rationalist skeptic: “The dream means nothing more than this individual has consumed too many reality television shows and too much cable news about US politics.”
Sigmund Freud: “The dream may symbolize a deep unconscious wish for an idealized father figure, a sexually potent patriarch who is able to reach into his pants, pull out a wad of something impressively large and valuable, and hand it down to the grateful son.”
Carl Jung: “Perhaps the dream is a symbolic compensation for the dreamer’s conscious disinterest in politics. In the dream, unlike in waking life, he personally connects with a political figure of immense power and special benevolence towards him. The symbolism of the dream may go beyond politics to illuminate a new relationship the dreamer can form with his unconscious Self, his own inner source of immense power and special benevolence.”
Supporter of the US President: “Stop being ridiculous! It’s a very literal and obvious dream. Trump is a winner, and he makes people who support him winners, too. He is putting real money into people’s hands through tax cuts, a rising stock market, job protections, and loosened regulations.”
Opponent of the US President: “Don’t be so simplistic! The dream is a frighteningly accurate metaphor of his greed-driven Presidency. True to his casino barker roots, Trump is using the exciting lure of easy money to seduce people into trusting his corrupt scams, which always end with him taking far more for himself than he gives to others.”
The late Rev. Jeremy Taylor: “All of this is true, and more besides.”