Donald J. Trump is insane
12 January 2025
Donald J. Trump is insane. This opinion is based on his public statements and actions and my experience as an attorney representing clients in commitment proceedings to Clinton Valley Center in the late 1980’s in Oakland County Probate Court. In addition, I have psychiatric training, albeit limited, primarily during medical school at the University of Michigan (class of 1983).
Trump cannot differentiate his thoughts and wishes from reality. He cannot differentiate good from bad other than how it relates to him. He cannot conform his actions to the law because he “knows” that what he says and does is appropriate. Even if charged with a crime or civil action and found guilty or liable, he still believes he did nothing wrong. Many psychiatrists believe he has a severe personality disorder that makes him dangerous, although they don’t agree on what it is.
1. Trump believes what he hears from Fox News and select “friends” and has little ability or interest in verifying that it is true.
Some of my Clinton Valley Center clients claimed that they heard voices on the radio that directed them how to act. They believed that the voices were real and that they had to obey them. Trump hears statements on Fox News or from his “friends” and similarly accepts that they must be true and he must act on them. Trump apparently cannot comprehend that Fox regularly endorses lies or that people he talks to may be lying or manipulating him.
2. Trump never accepted his felony conviction for fraud in New York State.
Trump had access to the best lawyers in the country, who filed more motions and appeals than any other case I am aware of. However, he was still found guilty in a jury trial and lost all his appeals. Yet he recently stated:
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Mr. Trump said during a six-minute speech. “The fact is, I’m totally innocent,” he added, describing the case as “an injustice of justice.” New York Times.
On social media, he further demonstrated his inability to grasp reality:
Every Legal Scholar and Pundit…have unequivocally stated that the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt is a nonexistent case…This illegitimate political attack is nothing but a Rigged Charade. “Acting” Justice Merchan…has so little respect for the Constitution that he is keeping an illegal gag order on me just so I cannot expose his and his family’s disqualifying and illegal conflicts.
I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge by a corrupt judge who is just doing the work of the Biden/Harris Injustice Department, an attack on their political opponent, ME! …I was hiding nothing…The judge should be disbarred! …A totally out of control, Trump hating judge, presided….I won against Deranged Jack Smith!
His inability to express remorse or to recognize that he did anything wrong is evidence that Donald J. Trump is insane.
Of note - any sane businessman would have settled this case years ago, most likely with an admission of guilt and a small fine. Trump’s inability to be pragmatic in these situations is typical for people detached from reality.
3. Trump believes owning Greenland is necessary for U.S. security, even if we must use force to secure it.
Trump has repeatedly stated that U.S. ownership of Greenland is necessary even though there is no rational basis for this position:
Kuupik V. Kleist, a former prime minister of Greenland, said Trump was talking more to US citizens than to Greenlanders. “I don’t see anything in the future that would pave the way for a sale. You don’t simply buy a country or a people,” he told CNN. This “crazy idea” is further evidence that Donald J. Trump is insane.
4. Trump threatened the Georgia secretary of state if he did not change the state’s vote totals in 2020.
President Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” him enough votes to overturn the presidential election and vaguely threatened him with “a criminal offense” during an hourlong telephone call on Saturday, according to an audio recording of the conversation.
Mr. Trump, who has spent almost nine weeks making false conspiracy claims about his loss to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., told Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, that he should recalculate the vote count so Mr. Trump, not Mr. Biden, would end up winning the state’s 16 electoral votes.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Mr. Trump said during the conversation, according to a recording first obtained by The Washington Post, which published it online Sunday. The New York Times also acquired a recording of Mr. Trump’s call.
This is clearly improper and most likely criminal, yet Trump continues to maintain that “that it was “an absolutely PERFECT phone call.” His conduct in this matter is further evidence that Donald J. Trump is insane.
5. Trump led an insurrection on 6 January 2021 to overturn the election results.
Despite live feeds and videos showing a violent attack on the capital with many deaths, injuries and successful prosecutions, Trump claims this was a “day of love”. This too is further evidence that Donald J. Trump is insane.
There are, of course, numerous other examples I could add (wanting the Panama Canal, annexing Canada, his cabinet picks with no experience, his incoherent press conferences, refusing to give appropriated money to Ukraine unless they launched an investigation of his political opponent, etc.)
It is important to acknowledge that Trump is insane so that we recommit to removing this insane individual from the Presidency (through legal means). In the interim, we should limit his power through Constitutional checks and balances, personal manipulation or persuasion. It makes no sense to try to understand what he is saying or to sanewash his statements to the public because much of the time, his statements will not make any sense due to his insane condition.
I will continue to post essays on statements and actions by Trump that demonstrate his continued insanity, lest we become comfortable with it and forget how outrageous and dangerous his Presidency is for the United States and the world.
The index to my prior essays (mostly post 5 November 2024) is here.
I have another blog on Cancer and Medicine.
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Email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com.
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The Coming of a Coup D’état - America First and then the World will Follow !
In the depths of the night, where the whispers grow loud,
A storm brews beneath the political cloud.
Project 2025, a vision so grand,
Crafted by elites with a treacherous hand.
Trump’s second term, a herald of might,
A billionaire’s dream, an unholy sight.
He aligns with the powerful, the corporate elite,
Foes of the people, whom they secretly greet.
But the people’s resolve is a force to behold,
Their passion and fury, a fire uncontrolled.
They rise with a purpose, their voices will roar,
They’ll take back the system, and settle the score.
In the streets of the cities, the call will ring clear,
The people united, casting off fear.
With the military loyal, the fight is begun,
A global revolt, like a rising sun.
The CEOs tremble, their power will wane,
Their empires crumbling, washed down the drain.
No longer the masters, no longer the kings,
Their wealth and their assets will be taken by wings.
For crimes of oppression, for tyranny’s lies,
They’ll answer in court, where no truth denies.
Politicians who aided, who fed at the trough,
Will find themselves shackled, their wealth washed off.
The revolution’s tide, it will not be contained,
From America’s heart, to the world unchained.
A coup d’état born of justice and fate,
The end of the era, of the corporate state.
Their downfall will echo in history’s pages,
As humanity rises from the cages.
The people will stand, the soldiers at their side,
For liberty’s banner, they’ll fight and they’ll guide.
Trump’s plan will falter, his power will break,
And justice for all, we shall soon undertake.
So watch as the world shifts, and the powerful fall,
For the people will rise and answer the call.
GQ
Many people have also said he has dementia which is rapidly progressing. How would you discern the differences between dementia and insanity.