Donald Trump approaches international affairs and his military prowess like he does everything else, as if he knows more than all the experts put together. Among his many other toxic traits, Trump tends towards hypomania, a state of mind where he essentially thinks he has Godlike qualities. As psychologist Dr. John Gartner says: “Like most hypomanics, Trump trusts his own ideas and judgment over those of anyone and everyone else, and follows his vision no matter how crazy or idiotic other people think it is” (“Donald Trump Is: A) Bad B) Mad C) All Of The Above” in “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President,” edited by Bandy Lee, 2017). His ego trip in going to war against Iran is a case in point: “(T)he strikes were a spectacular success. … Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.”
Almost before he stopped crowing, more sober heads were attempting to put the strikes into perspective. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., was particularly thoughtful: “(W)e’ve seen this movie before. … Initially, things looked pretty good, … and then, over time, we start to learn what the cost is: 4,400 American dead in Iraq. The Taliban back in power. So, bottom line, the president has taken a massive, massive gamble here.”
The only thing Trump has achieved, without question, is to distract us from the awful drumbeat of news about his lawless and cruel policies against innocent immigrants and their families; his crazy, lawless tariffs; and the awful, heartless redistribution of income from the poorest to the richest in his “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Let me end with another quote from Dr. Gartner: “(Trump) evinces the most destructive and dangerous collection of psychiatric symptoms possible for a leader. The worst-case scenario is now our reality.”
Frederick Longacre
Hockessin
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