More Examples of Trump's Cognitive Decline

Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is clearly facing cognitive challenges. I wrote about this in early August, but things have only gotten worse. There have been a number of examples over the past several days of Trump showing mental decline. While Trump has elite intelligence services at his fingertips, he seems to rely on Fox News and unvetted social media posts for information. The combination of declining cognitive abilities and fake news is making it increasingly difficult for Trump to distinguish between fantasy and reality. This is having a real impact on policy and not simply something about which we can joke.

The first example that I will provide requires a little background. On September 25, John Solomon at "Just the News" published an article headlined "FBI Bombshell: 274 agents sent to Capitol for J6, many later complained they were political ‘pawns’" that started out saying, "The FBI secretly deployed more than 250 plainclothes agents to the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot...". The headline and lede were consistent with MAGA conspiracy theories that FBI agents hidden in the January 6 crowds had instigated the insurrection. Solomon didn't actually make that claim, but he did misrepresent the report to which he was referring. The report does not use the word "plainclothes" and clearly says that "The number includes agents that responded to the Capitol grounds as well as inside the Capitol, the pipe bombs, and the red truck that was believed to contain explosive devices as well as CDC/ADCS." Solomon has long been a source of disinformation, and this is an obvious case of him suggesting that the report says something that it doesn't. Far from being secret agents sent to stir up a revolt, the FBI personnel were sent in response to the insurrection to attempt to protect the Capitol.

The same day, an article was posted on The Blaze website with the headline "FBI had 274 plainclothes agents embedded in Jan. 6 crowds, congressional source says". This article cites the same 274 number of agents that was in the report referenced by Solomon and, therefore, is likely based on the same memo. Again, that memo neither made the claim that the agents were in plainclothes nor that they were embedded in the crowd. This article is pure misinformation. Nevertheless, two days after the two articles were published, Trump "truthed" on Truth Social that "It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax." In fact, as I have been explaining, no such thing had been revealed, and Trump's claim is false. Trump, who appointed the Director of the FBI and does not hesitate to involve himself in minute government affairs, could have simply picked up the phone and asked FBI Director Kash Patel whether this information was true. Instead, Trump broadcast this false claim based simply on sketchy reports from conspiracy websites.

As for Patel, he was caught between his boss who was spreading misinformation and his duty as FBI Director. He chose a middle ground and took to Fox News to say that "Agents were sent into a crowd control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police – something that goes against FBI standards". While Patel is clear that the agents were not hiding in the crowd attempting to instigate an insurrection, he is bizarrely unhappy that they were sent to protect the Capitol Building. He seems to think that after a riot on federal property had been declared, the FBI should have collectively sat on its hands. There is plenty to be discussed about this point — particularly in light of FBI agents being among the federal agents currently being surged to several U.S. cities, but let's stick to the fact that Trump contributed to the need for Patel to make such a statement. No president with full mental faculties would have published an unvetted allegation of this sort. Regardless, with Trump's assistance, the belief that hundreds of FBI agents secretly helped cause the January 6 insurrection has been firmly implanted in MAGA minds and I doubt that it will ever be eradicated.

Another indication of cognitive decline among seniors is fixations on specific topics. Trump has a number of such obsessions and his Truth Social feed is often his primary outlet for addressing them. One recent example was a "truth" in which he wrote:

Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House. Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, “freak out” when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!! President DJT

The Oval Office itself is an illustration of Trump's uncertain grasp of reality. Every last item is covered in gold, and the office has become a tribute to excess. At a time when American farmers have been unable to sell a single soybean to China, grocery prices are rising, and jobs are becoming almost impossible to find, Trump is engaging in behavior that would make Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI blush.

Another Trump obsession and one that is also accompanied by erratic behavior is tariffs. Nothing seems to please Trump more than taking out his Sharpie or "truthing" on Truth Social about another tariff that he has declared. The fact that such tariffs are often senseless and will backfire means that he often has to backdown, resulting his gaining the moniker "TACO" for "Trump always chickens out." On Thursday evening, in the course of a half-hour, Trump "truthed" three new major tariff polices. The first was for a "25% Tariff on all ‘Heavy (Big!) Trucks’ made in other parts of the World." The next "truth" claimed that "We will be imposing a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products" as well as "a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture." The final tariff Trump touted was "a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America." Trump, who once promised a mathematically impossible 1,500% decrease in drug prices, is now going to double the cost of many of the most popular medicines in America. The erratic behavior demonstrated in these announcements, some of which will be impossible to implement, should be enough to call into question Trump's cognitive abilities. However, add to the evidence that he seems to have forgotten about the furniture tariffs. This morning he "truthed" that "I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States. Details to follow!!!" What about Thursday's "truth"? Has that been overtaken by events or just forgotten?

Yesterday, Trump "truthed" a tweet from X saying that "The Great Replacement is no longer conspiracy theory!" and including a segment from Newsmax about foreign nationals who are legally in the country receiving Social Security numbers. To be clear on this point, a Social Security number is necessary for employment in the U.S., and there are several circumstances under which foreign nationals may be issued work permits. Therefore, foreign nationals are routinely issued Social Security numbers. Newsmax misrepresented these facts. A X user reposted the Newsmax video and added the line about the Great Replacement Theory, and Trump posted that tweet on Truth Social. The Great Replacement Theory is a racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory that holds that Jews are funding the migration of non-White migrants to the U.S. in order to replace White Americans. This was the basis of the "Jews will not replace us" chant at the infamous Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally. Belief in the Great Replacement Theory was the motivation for a number of mass shootings, including the mosque in New Zealand, the El Paso, Texas Walmart, the Pittsburgh synagogue, and the Buffalo, New York grocery store. The fact that a U.S. president would uncritically broadcast that the Great Replacement is not a conspiracy theory but something that is actually happening is astonishing and shows a severe lack of judgement. Specifically citing "Great Replacement" clearly sends a signal to White nationalists that Trump is with them.

On Saturday, Trump engaged in another instance of "policy by 'truth'", in this case "truthing":

At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

This was another truly bizarre and concerning post. First of all, it is extremely doubtful that this request originated with Noem. As later information made clear, Trump reacted to things that he saw on television. Second, there is no legal authority that would allow Hegseth to deploy troops to patrol Portland without the cooperation of Oregon's governor. Third, and most importantly, no "siege" or "attack" was occurring in the city. To the contrary, everything was peaceful and the closest thing to a protest was a half-dozen people standing around with signs outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. Finally, a U.S. President suggesting that the military deploy deadly force against Americans is outrageous and should not be considered acceptable. This was another case of Trump being completely disconnected from reality. Hegseth would go on to "federalize" 200 National Guard members, a move that Oregon immediately challenged in court. In a phone interview with NBC White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, Trump said "am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening? My people tell me different. They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place...it looks like terrible." Trump's perception simply does not reflect reality. At this point, it is doubtful that a deployment will actually take place. This is just another example of Trump getting wound up by something he saw on television and reacting in a knee-jerk fashion. It is not the behavior of a competent leader.

I've saved the craziest example for last. Also on Saturday, Trump "truthed" an artificial intelligence-generated video of himself announcing that so-called "medbeds" were being deployed in the United States. After several hours, Trump deleted the video, but the bizarre event is still worth discussing. The "medbed" conspiracy is a QAnon theory that elites are keeping life-saving medical technologies secret and reserved for their own use. "Medbeds" are supposed to be MRI-looking devices that have the capability to end aging, cure cancer, and solve an endless number of other health issues. The AI-generated video appeared to be a segment of Laura Trump's show on Fox News. In the video, Trump announced that all Americans would soon have their own "medbed card" that would allow them to use medbeds being installed in hospitals across the country. Trump's post raises a number of questions, none of which are being answered by the White House so far. Does Trump believe in "medbeds"? Does he believe that they are being deployed in American hospitals? Does he believe that he actually made such an announcement? Did Trump realize when he was posting the video that it was fake? If so, why did he post it? If not, I am not even sure what to say if he didn't realize the video was fake. Despite Trump's removal, the post will be seized upon by the conspiracists of QAnon and others. They will view this as a wink from Trump that they are correct in their beliefs. Nothing says "very stable genius" more than posting a fake video of yourself announcing a device that does not exist.

To put things simply, Trump is engaging in a pattern of behavior that is not sane. No rational person would conduct themselves in this manner. The more crazy Trump behaves, however, the more his cult followers rush to assure him of his brilliance. This would be funny except that Trump is having a real impact on people's lives. Tariffs are causing price increases and lost sales for U.S. farmers and manufacturers. Worst of all, Trump's inability to distinguish reality from his fever dreams is inspiring some of the worst aspects of society, including loony conspiracy theorists and White nationalists. He is deepening distrust in society and severely damaging the fabric of our society. Sadly, there is little hope that anyone will do anything about it, and we are fated to be ruled by a mad king.