According to the Alzheimer’s Society, memory problems, difficulties in thinking things through, planning, difficulties in finding the right word, not being able to follow what is being said, or becoming more irritable, frustrated, or easily upset could be early signs of dementia.
As far as we can tell, Trump has the attention span of a goldfish and the vocabulary of a fifth-grader with only one fixation: “How can I win the election to stay out of jail and, since the Supreme Court ruling, do whatever I want?”
As far as being irritable, frustrated, or upset at everything that does not serve him, Trump has always been like that, so nothing new here.
For the rest, since Donald Trump has been lying and talking nonsense all his life, non-MAGA people are not even paying attention anymore. So, again, not a telling sign of dementia.
Therefore, since Trump always had those signs, it is impossible to say if his cognitive faculties have been impaired or not. However, in consideration of his advanced age, dementia should not be ruled out.
This leaves us with the projection alternative.
In psychological terms, projecting is a common tactic used by narcissistic people who accuse others of what they're doing to deflect blame and avoid accountability. Prime example: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
So, in order to determine if Trump is projecting we have to determine if he is psychologically a sane person
Question: Is Donald Trump a sane person?
There are two theories to this question.
One is that Donald Trump is afflicted with several psychological disorders.
Another is that Trump is not a delusional, narcissistic, psychopath, or sociopath, but in truth, worse than that.
We already know that dozens of psychologists have diagnosed Donald Trump as a narcissistic/psychopath/sociopath with character traits that share all dictators. Even those who know him personally well, like family members, label him as
“A petty, pathetic little man — ignorant, incapable, out of his depth, and lost to his own delusional spin.”[1]
Let’s call a cat a cat: Donald Trump is a textbook narcissist, just like his father, Fred Trump Sr., who also was a sociopath.
So, where does Donald Trump stand?
The originality of Donald Trump is that he exhibits character traits that overlap the clinical definition of narcissism, sociopath, and psychopath. In a sense, Donald Trump is a hybrid type of animal that encompasses most of the characteristics that define either one of the following three psychological disorders.
Sociopath traits
· Lack of remorse.
· Liars
· Manipulative
· Narcissistic
· No Long Relationships
· Spontaneous
· Lack of Love
· Highly Competitive
Narcissist traits
· Superiority and entitlement
· Exaggerated need for attention and validation
· Great need for control
· Lack of responsibility
· Lack of boundaries
· Lack of empathy
· Perceiving everything as a threat
· Emotional reasoning
· Fear of rejection and ridicule
· Anxiety
· Deeply repressed shame
· Inability to be genuinely vulnerable
· Inability to communicate or work as part of a team
Psychopath traits [2]
Cold indifference to the feelings of others.
Pathological Lying and Manipulation.
Lack of Morality and Rule-breaking.
Lack of empathy and Cold-Heartedness.
Narcissism and False Superiority Complex.
· Gaslighting and Psychological Bullying.
· Lack of Contrition and Self-Serving Victimhood.
Irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations.
Persistent irresponsibility.
Failure to follow social norms for law-abiding behavior may provide grounds for imprisonment.
Fraud that manifests itself through repeated lies, use of false names, or fraud by others for the sake of gain or pleasure.
Morbid lying/broad-mindedness.
Very low frustration threshold and low aggression threshold.
Irritability and aggression manifested through repeated fights
Pronounced tendency to blame others or to come up with explanations of the behavior that creates problems.
Lack of realistic future planning.
Reckless indifference to one’s own or others’ safety.
Lack of remorse.
Smoothness / superficial charm.
Self-centered, with great thoughts about self-worth.
Bluffing, use of manipulation.
Lack of depth of emotion.
CONCLUSION
This post will be a rare case when no definitive answer will be offered. It will be up to the reader to reach his/her own conclusion with one thing in mind:
Your conclusion will tell more about you, your own values, and world views than the sanity of Donald Trump.
[1] Quote from Mary L. Trump in her book “Too much and never enough”.
[2] Source: Hare - Psychopathy checklist
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