In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper this week, Howard Stern said he suspects President Trump was "traumatized" by his childhood and recommended psychotherapy.



"From what I know of Donald and his relationship with his father, it sounds traumatic. It sounds like the father was very domineering," Stern said in an interview to promote his new book, 'Howard Stern Comes Again.' "The father expected a lot of him. And the father, I don't know, there was military school. You know, you read these drips and drabs and you go wow."





"I can assure you he's been traumatized. Because, you know, Donald, you know, his level of narcissism is so strong," Stern psychoanalyzed. "He has troubled with empathy. We know that. And I wish he'd go into psychotherapy. I'd be so proud of him if he did, and he would flourish."



Stern revealed Trump used to call him on the campaign trail and even invited the shock jock to speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention.



"He used to call me from the campaign trail and I think he was really desirous of my endorsement because, A, I have a big audience. And, B, he's familiar with that audience and I think it would have been very comforting to him if I had gotten on board," the radio host explained.



"When he secured the nomination and now he was thinking about the convention, I think he wanted some showbiz there," Stern said. "He picked up the phone and he called me personally and he asked me if I would go to the Republican convention and endorse him."



"I think Donald would have appointed me," Stern said of a cabinet position.





ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You talk about trauma and you've talked about it in relationship to President Trump.



HOWARD STERN, 'THE HOWARD STERN SHOW' HOST: Yes.



COOPER: That Donald Trump is a person who experienced a lot of trauma early on.



STERN: Yes. From what I know of Donald and his relationship with his father, it sounds traumatic. It sounds like the father was very domineering. The father expected a lot of him. And the father, I don't know, there was military school. You know, you read these drips and drabs and you go wow.



I can assure you he's been traumatized. Because, you know, Donald, you know, his level of narcissism is so strong. He has troubled with empathy. We know that. And I wish he'd go into psychotherapy. I'd be so proud of him if he did, and he would flourish.



COOPER: But he never has. I mean, he never would.



STERN: There is no way -- I do not believe he's ever done psychotherapy, because he is demonstrating a lot of the -- a lot of the behaviors that I recognize.



COOPER: And I think as an interviewer, I've noticed this just -- when I used to interview him, I have -- I don't get to interview him anymore because he doesn't do it, but he was very susceptible to flattery. And if you gave -- and I noticed this in your interviews with him, you would throw out something like your poll numbers, you know, I've never seen anything like this. STERN: Well, it's a definite technique.



COOPER: It washes over him.



STERN: Yes, it's a technique, you know. It's like if you meet someone who has a bad self -image, oh, you're very beautiful, you're so handsome, you're this, you're that. With Donald, it always starts out -- notice I call him in every interview, Mr. Trump. Now, this is before he was president, Mr. Trump.



COOPER: That's intentional?



STERN: Oh, absolutely. Someone had asked me, said, "Why do you call him Mr. Trump?" I said, "Because it loosens him up. He feels respected. He feels good about himself, now he's going to roll. He's going to open up to me."



COOPER: When you see him now in the White House as president, what do you see?



STERN: Well, you know --



COOPER: Given your history with him and how you know him.



STERN: Well, first of all, it's unbelievable to me. And I've documented my thoughts about how this whole candidacy even came about. This was a publicity stunt. I happened to have --



COOPER: You have no doubt about that?



STERN: I have no doubt, because I have some inside information. And the thing is that it started out with "The Art of the Deal," the book. And it was, you know, a PR guy's idea. He said, "Donald, what you need to do is we'll make a sort of a rumor that you're running for president." And Donald is like, oh. So all of the sudden he was being interviewed. The book goes right to number one.



When he had a second book came out, that's when he decided to start the rumor that he was going to run for president. And then this time around in the last election, "The Apprentice" ratings were not what they were. NBC was not going to give him a raise. And what's a better way than to get NBC's interest, I'll run for president and I'll get lots of press, and I think that's what happened.



COOPER: Do you think he likes being president?



STERN: I don't think he likes being president at all. I think he liked winning the presidency. He likes to win. And, again, I'm not Donald Trump's psychotherapist and I had many good laughs with Donald.



And in some ways I feel that he has been wronged the way they used my transcripts in a way to frame him. And I'll give you an example. When he said the line about STDs being his Vietnam, that was a very jokey thing on my show.



If you went back and listen to the tape, you would not take that seriously. He was in the spirit of the program. And then he was, you know, they tried to use that against him, "Hey, he's being -- how dare he compare himself to a veteran of the Vietnam War who served when he didn't serve." All right, everybody take a deep breath and relax.



But having said that, the stuff I put in the book I think is very revealing about our now president and there's something to be learned there.



COOPER: Do you think he's the same person that you interviewed, now?



STERN: Yes. I do. I think he is the same exact person. I think the only way you really change is to do analysis. So, yes, I think he's the same guy.



COOPER: He asked you to speak at the RNC. I think --



STERN: Yes.



COOPER: I had no idea about that.



STERN: He used to call me from the campaign trail and I think he was really desirous of my endorsement because, A, I have a big audience. And, B, he's familiar with that audience and I think it would have been very comforting to him if I had gotten on board.



So, when the -- when he secured the nomination and now he was thinking about the convention, I think he wanted some showbiz there. He picked up the phone and he called me personally and he asked me if I would go to the Republican convention and endorse him.



And I was like, oh, gosh, you know, for about a split second I went, can you imagine if I was all in. I would be the head of the FCC. I could be the Supreme Court -- I could be on the Supreme Court. I think Donald would give me anything I asked.



COOPER: You really believe that?



STERN: Oh, I believe it 100 percent. If Ben Carson could get in there, and -- I think Donald would have appointed me.



COOPER: Because he's transactional or he --



STERN: I think he would have been grateful that I'm on his team, regardless of whether I know what I'm doing or not.



COOPER: Do you think he wants to get reelected? Do you think --



STERN: I don't think -- I think psychologically if he really got under the hood, I think he'd say, "What am I doing? I'm in my 70s."