A top psychiatrist has issued a new warning about what she described as President Donald Trump’s deteriorating mental health, comparing his behavior to that of a “toddler” responding to feelings of helplessness.
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she → issue → helplessness
Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic and social psychiatrist who previously taught at Harvard and Yale, has long voiced concerns about the health of the 80-year-old president — which the White House has dismissed as “false speculation for political purposes.”
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House → teach → purposes
Lee edited the 2017 book,The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, and earlier this year was among 36 physicians who signed an open letter calling for the president’s removal under the 25th Amendment.
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who → edit → Amendment
The letter cited a “marked deterioration in cognitive functioning.”
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letter → cite → functioning
In an interview with MeidasTouch this weekend, Lee said that several recent developments had intensified her concerns.
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developments → say → concerns
She pointed to Trump’s remarks on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including his claim that firefighters had to carry him away from Ground Zero shortly after the Twin Towers collapsed.
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Towers → point → Zero
Multiple news organizations found no evidence to support that account, and New York Magazine called it a “weird lie.”
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Magazine → find → it
Trump later wrote on Truth Social that “everything I said was exactly accurate,” adding: “I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter.”
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I → write → collapse
Lee said the episode reflected what she characterized as Trump’s tendency to place himself at the center of consequential events.
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she → say → events
“The degree for which he needs to do that for every significant event in national history and every significant monument in the nation has to bear his name, all of this goes back to just how fragile he is in his sense of self,” Lee said.
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Lee → need → self
“This is normally what toddlers do,” the psychiatrist continued.
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psychiatrist → do → what
“They have to be king or queen or ruler of the universe in order to fight the feeling that they are quite helpless and dependent on others’ care.
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they → have → care
But of course that’s normal for a two- or three-year-old.
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that → ’ → old
It is abnormal and pathological when it involves a fully grown adult.”
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it → involve → adult
Lee also noted her unease over Trump’s recent Truth Social posts, including memes that appear to show him preparing to launch nuclear weapons.
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him → note → weapons
“The extremely dangerous situation in which we find ourselves is that our structure, the set-up that we have is that we have no way of countermanding a president, fit or not, in an impulsive, in a fit of impulse or not,” she said.
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she → find → impulse
Lee described Trump as “an incredibly mentally unstable individual who’s become far more unstable with time, with more power he’s given and the less he is constrained.”
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he → describe → power
The state of the president’s mental and physical health is the subject of growing public interest, following episodes of apparent daytime drowsiness, bruising on his hands and swollen ankles.
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state → grow → hands
Multiple health experts have spoken out, including Nobel Peace Prize-winning psychiatrist Henry David Abraham and CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.
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experts → speak → Abraham
Polls also indicate a large swath of Americans have concerns.
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swath → indicate → concerns
In an April YouGov survey, 48 percent of respondents said that Trump has suffered modest or significant mental or physical decline.
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Trump → say → decline
The White House has forcefully pushed back against claims that Trump is unwell or unfit to serve.
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Trump → push → claims
“If it quacks like a duck, it may actually just be a Democrat hack doctor,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Independent.
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Ingle → quack → Independent
“President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history and any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to.”
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they → call → Oath
The White House has attributed Trump’s recurrent bruising on his hands to frequent handshakes and said chronic venous insufficiency caused his ankle swelling.
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insufficiency → attribute → swelling
Trump himself has also insisted he is in excellent health, saying after a May physical that “everything” had “checked out PERFECTLY.”
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everything → insist → physical
The Aporia
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