#TOTALLYNOTACULT:

Steve Hassen, a cult expert and author of a book called "The Cult of Trump," spoke to Insider about the ways in which Trump and his circle behave share characteristics with cults.

"What's interesting and shocking to me is to hear Lev Parnas describe [Trump] as a cult leader and such, and I'm curious how he arrived to that insight," Hassen said, referring to an MSNBC interview Parnas gave.

"I knew that Trump fit the stereotypical profile of all cult leaders, which is essentially malignant narcissism, which is the narcissism -- plus the psychopathic elements of feeling above the law, the pathological lying, paranoia, the jealousy, the harassment," he added.

The cult comparison has also been used by Michael Cohen, Trump's one-time lawyer. A friend of Cohen's told The New York Times last February that Cohen "would describe it as being something akin to a cult" and he "got sucked into it."

"First of all, cult leaders think they're above everybody else, above the law, and then everything exists for their adulation," Hassen said.

"Cult leaders think nothing of using people like pawns to get their way, and it doesn't matter if there are people on the staff saying this is a bad idea, which apparently Bolton did," Hassen said. In December The New York Times reported that former national security adviser John Bolton tried to convince Trump to release military aid to Ukraine.

"His will matters more than any rationality and the potential consequence," Hassen continued.

He said cult leaders also have a tendency to cast out anyone who disagrees with them. He says this can be seen in the record high turnover of staff in the Trump White House.

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