President Donald Trump reacts particularly "ballistic" when women expose him as a "fraud," according to author and commentator Jennifer Welch, who explained in an interview with The Daily Beast why such women "really get under Donald Trump's skin."

Welch is co-host of the progressive political podcast "I've Had It" and author of the book "Not Today, Fascists." She is known for her outspoken criticism of conservatives and Trump, as well as her critiques of the current leadership of the Democratic Party. Speaking Sunday on the latest episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, Welch told hosts Joanna Coles and Nell Scovell that Trump fits the textbook definition of "delusions of grandeur," particularly regarding his physical attractiveness and charisma — which, she argued, explains why he reacts so strongly against women who puncture those delusions.

Coles pressed Welch on what it is about these women in particular that sets Trump off.

"Rosie O'Donnell, Taylor Swift, there's a very specific kind of woman... they don't necessarily seem to have very much in common, apart from the fact that they can really get under Donald Trump's skin," Coles said. "And they're the women, like E. Jean Carroll and her lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, who...you know, have won against him, have won."

The women Coles named each have documented histories of high-profile conflict with Trump. His feud with O'Donnell dates back to 2006, when he mocked her after she criticized him on "The View." Swift endorsed Trump's opponent Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, after which Trump posted that he "hates" her. Carroll won two civil verdicts against Trump — a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation in May 2023, awarding Carroll $5 million, and a second jury awarded her $83.3 million in a related defamation case in January 2024, with Kaplan serving as her lead attorney.

In response, Welch argued that these women trigger Trump's narcissism and cause him to flail when his ego is damaged.

"So I think that these women, what they all have in common is that they have revealed to Trump that they know he's a fraud," Welch said. "And so they put a mirror up to him, and they've created and induced a narcissistic injury to him, and when a narcissist is injured, they lash out in the way that he has towards every single one of these women, the most vicious way possible."

She continued: "And so he is a con artist; he's a blowhard. He is a snake oil salesman. And to the suburban women, he can pull it off. They're like, 'Oh, that locker-room talk of Trump, what a hoot he is. That Melania? She's such a class act. We just love her. But when there's an intelligent woman that says, "You're a bulls—— artist, and I know you are, and you're not attractive, the Stormy Daniels case, and you're a terrible lay, two-pump chump." And then he just completely goes ballistic because they have exposed him for the fraud that he is. And that's what they all have in common. I think they put a mirror up, and they've injured him, and they've caused narcissistic injury to his ego."