The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of The Prowler.

John D. Gartner, a registered psychotherapist from John Hopkins University Medical School, believes Trump shows signs of “malignant narcissism.” If this is accurate, then the reason Trump has shielded former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is quite a mystery.

Since Trump added Flynn to his team, he has tried to protect him. At times, he has taken odd steps to make sure Flynn will continue to work for him and the administration.

For instance, the New York Times revealed that Flynn told Trump’s transition team he was under federal investigation for secret payments to lobby for Turkey during the campaign. Despite this, Trump appointed him to be National Security Advisor.

On January 26, the then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates told White House Counsel Donald McGahn that Flynn lied to Vice President Pence about his calls and texts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak by falsely saying he did not discuss sanctions on Russia. And at a Senate judiciary subcommittee, Yates claimed she also told McGahn that Russia was aware of this lie, making Flynn vulnerable to blackmail.

However, it was not until The Washington Post reported about Yates’ meeting with McGahn on Feb. 13 that Trump asked Flynn for his resignation. In the meantime, Flynn continued to be informed of highly classified information and continued to brief the President on different matters. Trump’s actions are incomprehensible; why did it take him 18 days to fire Flynn?

On Apr. 25, lawmakers said that Flynn broke the law by accepting tens of thousands of dollars for appearances in Russia, according to NPR. As a retired lieutenant general, Flynn was obligated to obtain permission before receiving foreign payments, but Congressman Chaffetz said, “[it] does not appear to us that [permission] was ever sought.”

According to a memo written by the then-FBI Director James Comey, Trump asked Comey in a meeting in the Oval Office to “let it go,” in reference to the investigation into Mike Flynn. At this moment, Trump obstructed justice, committing an impeachable offence to protect Flynn.

But why would Trump risk his Presidency for Flynn? On May 26, America became closer to answering that question.

The Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, met secretly with the Russian ambassador on Dec. 1 or 2 to discuss using Russian facilities to establish a secret communications channel between the Kremlin and Trump’s transition team. Its purpose: to keep their discussions secret from U.S. intelligence agencies. Attending this meeting, of course, was Michael Flynn.

Currently, Flynn is willing to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee about the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in return for immunity from prosecution, as NBC News reports. His lawyer wrote he “certainly has a story to tell.”

On May 18, in The Independent reported that Trump would like to find Flynn a White House position after the Russian probe ends. This thought alone is irrational.

If there is one group of people Trump would take a bullet to protect, it’s his family, and Kushner is an important member of that family. Trump thus shields Flynn, for fear that Flynn will reveal misconduct by Kushner in particular.

But how can Trump possibly keep this up?