Trump, 80, Is Psychotic and It’s Getting Worse, Says Cognitive Doctor

Eric Faison/The Daily Beast Donald Trump is a “puppet” to psychopathic traits that are likely to become even more dangerous if Republicans suffer a bruising defeat in next month’s midterm elections, a leading clinical psychologist has warned.

Dr Vincent Greenwood, director of the Washington Center for Cognitive Therapy, also believes the president’s danger is underestimated and warrants invoking the 25th Amendment.

Speaking to the Daily Beast, he said Trump exhibits clinical psychopathy, characterized by three particularly destructive traits: impulsivity, remorselessness and an intense drive to dominate.

“These traits are ominous—every one of them,” said Greenwood, who has conducted more than 1,700 psychological evaluations and has been studying Trump for years.

“The clinical psychopath is just unable to grapple with any thorny or difficult issue.

They’re radically disinhibited and very impulsive, which is not a good fit for a commander in chief.

“Perhaps the most central and most problematic trait is remorselessness.

Psychopaths just don’t have the guardrails that a normal functioning conscience provides.

They just don’t experience guilt or shame.

There’s just no feeling of discomfort at all at the suffering of others, and they deflect all responsibility for any damage they may inflict.

So I think those are all grounds for certainly considering the 25th Amendment.” Greenwood’s book Puppet on a String: Trump Is Ruled by an Ominous Psychological Condition presents a forensic-style assessment of the president through the lens of clinical psychopathy.

His warnings come amid growing concerns about Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior, from threatening to annihilate a “whole civilization” in Iran to suggesting that letting American cities be destroyed is a “small price to pay.” During an Oval Office event on Monday, the 80-year-old president also threatened a reporter, mixed up JD Vance’s name, and went on a wild tirade complaining that Russia messed up its invasion of Ukraine.

“Hey!” Trump seethed as White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg attempted to ask him a question.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better be careful.” Asked if things were likely to worsen if things went badly for Trump at the midterms, Greenwood said a Republican midterm defeat could trigger frantic efforts by Trump to “protect his status”, with potentially serious consequences.