Top psychiatrist says Trump behaves like a ‘toddler’ trying to be ‘ruler of the universe’ to fight feeling of helplessness
Por Brendan Rascius — – World RSS Feed
Top psychiatrist says Trump behaves like a ‘toddler’ trying to be ‘ruler of the universe’ to fight feeling of helplessness
Former Harvard doctor described president’s behavior as ‘abnormal and pathological’
Brendan Rascius in New York Monday 21 September 2026 18:12 BST
- Bookmark
- Comments Go to comments
Bookmark popover
Removed from bookmarks
Close popover
Your support helps us to tell the story
Read more Support Now
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference. Read more
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.
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.”
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. The letter cited a “marked deterioration in cognitive functioning.”
In an interview with MeidasTouch this weekend, Lee said that several recent developments had intensified her 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.
open image in galleryMultiple news organizations found no evidence to support that account, and New York Magazine called it a “weird lie.” 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.”
Lee said the episode reflected what she characterized as Trump’s tendency to place himself at the center of consequential 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.
“This is normally what toddlers do,” the psychiatrist continued. “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. But of course that’s normal for a two- or three-year-old. It is abnormal and pathological when it involves a fully grown 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.
“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. “There’s no way to countermand the command of a nuclear weapon.”
open image in galleryLee 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.”
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.
Multiple health experts have spoken out, including Nobel Peace Prize-winning psychiatrist Henry David Abraham and CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.
Polls also indicate a large swath of Americans have concerns. In an April YouGov survey, 48 percent of respondents said that Trump has suffered modest or significant mental or physical decline.
The White House has forcefully pushed back against claims that Trump is unwell or unfit to serve.
“If it quacks like a duck, it may actually just be a Democrat hack doctor,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The 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.”
The White House has attributed Trump’s recurrent bruising on his hands to frequent handshakes and said chronic venous insufficiency caused his ankle swelling.
Trump himself has also insisted he is in excellent health, saying after a May physical that “everything” had “checked out PERFECTLY.”
More about
Donald TrumpWhite HousePsychiatryMental Health
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Most popular
Popular videos
Bulletin
Read next
Fonte: – World RSS Feed
