Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

“Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

– Bertrand Russell, 1905.

The mainstream media have been concerned with the politics, policies, and propaganda of Donald Trump’s terms in office, but have virtually ignored the central question of his presidency: Is Trump psychologically fit to be president of the United States and commander in chief? Various psychologists and psychiatrists have warned that our dangerously disordered president is a threat to domestic and international security. The threat has become more dire in recent weeks.

The mental health experts who have discussed these issues have not been interviewed by the press. They took some professional risk in ignoring the ethical principle of the American Psychiatric Association known as the “Goldwater Rule.” This rule prohibits diagnosing public figures they have not personally interviewed. Trump’s recent public behavior and his outrageous remarks suggest that the “duty to warn” among psychologists and psychiatrists calls for greater scrutiny of Trump by the overall public, particularly members of the medical community and the media.

Trump’s signs of malignant narcissism are well known; he claims to know more than anyone else and that only he can fix our problems. His demonization of the media and his perceived opponents as well as his treatment of minorities and the handling of immigration issues point to paranoia. His misuse of the national guard and the professional military in our major cities, violating the Constitution and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, points to political paranoia. Trump’s reference to himself as the “Boss of the Americas” points to personal paranoia.

In recent months, Trump has claimed that non-existent political groups justify his deployment of the U.S. military in American cities and in Caribbean waters. He ignored the lawyers from the intelligence agencies, who oppose the use of force against Venezuela. Civilian lawyers from the Department of Defense were cut out of the discussion. The legal staff of the National Security Council was sent packing months ago.

To justify his illegal use of the military and the national guard in American cities, Trump cites his opposition to “antifa,” a non-existent political group and merely a label for anti-fascist groups in Europe and the United States. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has labeled groups in Germany, Italy, and Greece as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” Without any evidence, Trump has referred to antifa as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise.”

To justify his illegal and unconstitutional use of military force in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean against small boats from Venezuela and Colombia, Trump assails a non-existent group, the “Cartel de los Soles,” which is a label created by Venezuelan journalists, but not an organization. Secretary of State Rubio, who is one of the most bellicose actors on Trump’s national security team, describes Cartel de los Soles as a “criminal organization that happens to masquerade as a government.” Trump himself refers to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a “fugitive head of the cartel” who has been indicted in the U.S. for trafficking drugs into the country.

Trump’s meltdown can also be seen in his ugly and aggressive attacks on two female journalists who dared to raise the issue of the Epstein files with the president. Trump has a long history of hostility toward women, and this has been manifested over the years in his inability to deal with questions from female journalists, especially when it comes to the Epstein files or his recent glorification of Mohammed bin Salman during last week’s summit meeting. Trump dismissed MbS’s role in the horrible killing of a Saudi journalist by stating that the journalist was a “controversial” man and “things happen.”

Two recent developments in the Congress have knocked Trump off his feed. The fact that three MAGA representatives in the Congress are leading the opposition to Trump on the failure of the White House to release the Epstein files must be particularly loathsome to Trump. Then, last week, six Democratic congressmen—all military veterans—proclaimed that the military has a duty to ignore illegal orders. Trump’s maniacal response was to brand the group as “seditious” and remind the U.S. public about what should be done with those who commit treason. Trump’s conclusion to what is to be done: “Death.”

Trump is clearly losing his bearings, and there is no one in the White House who can calm him or get him to modify his actions or his provocative statements. Trump’s irrational and impulsive behavior is becoming particularly worrisome as the possible use of military force in Venezuela, or the CIA’s attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Maduro, hang in the balance. Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional orders are compromising the integrity of the military and possibly returning the CIA to the perilous times of regime change and attempted assassinations during the Cold War.

The post Trump is Melting Down: Is This the Beginning of the End? appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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