Mental Decline on Exhibit: The Spectacle of Trump at the UN

Trump’s address to the U.N. General Assembly last week, too long and consistent only in its rambling, narcissism, and cantankerous bombast, surely rates as one of America’s most embarrassing spectacles on display before world leaders. Clearly, we are witnessing a leader’s mental decline, posing grave danger, not only for our nation, but the world at large.

It began when he stepped on an escalator that stopped moving midway. Trump thought it not accidental.

Addressing the UN, Trump showed the world how to win friends and influence people:

“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.”

Trump’s your consummate ego-maniac. It’s always about him:

“No president or prime minister. And for that matter, no other country has ever done anything close to that restoring stability and I did it in just seven months. It’s never happened before. There’s never been anything like that. Very honored to have done it.”

In his megalomania, Trump presented himself as the world’s greatest peacemaker, no thanks to the UN:

“I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal. All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle. If the First Lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen. But she’s in great shape…. Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements….”

On climate change, ignoring decades of peer-reviewed science, Trump excoriated renewable energy efforts as a “green scam.”

So much of what Donald says isn’t easy reading. Take this example from his UN speech:

“Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen.”

I ask myself, How did this guy get into Penn’s prestigious Wharton School of Business? I remember a former Wharton prof allegedly saying he was “the dumbest student” he ever had (William T. Kelley, Wharton Professor of Marketing). Wharton was selective in those days, taking in transfers by the bushel, including Trump, a Fordham student. And then there were the family connections. For the record, Trump didn’t graduate with honors.

Trump displays all the earmarks of lacking impulse control. I used to give him a pass—ok, he’s impulsive—my mistake, only to realize this is a psychological disorder that can lead to harmful consequences, if not professionally addressed.

Think about it, an impulsive man in thought and action able to trigger a nuclear response. He called war hero John McLain “a loser.” Biden is “sleepy Joe.” Zelensky is “ungrateful.”

We have on our hands a president who skips his morning intelligence briefings, runs government by the seat of his pants. Acts on whim.

For 57 minutes before the UN, he rambled on—angry, vengeful, inflammatory. His speeches grow darker in their menacing.

Essentially, he was telling UN delegates they could go to hell.

We’ve had presidents who’ve been physically impaired (Wilson, FDR), but never one mentally incapacitated.

Some propose impeachment. That’s been tried twice, but with no result, Republican lackeys to the rescue.

There does exist the 25th Amendment allowing for removal of a president unable to govern.

Either way, impeachment or invoking the 25th, we await the midterms, expectant of a substantial majority who will act this time to assure the safety of its citizenry and restore dignity to our nation and garner respect from world leaders.

RJ