Is Trump a Lunatic?

“Not since Adolf Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker beneath the garden of the German Reich Chancellery on April 30, 1945, have the lives of so many people around the world been so buffeted by the psychosis of a single man.” Those striking words posted by David Rothkopf on March 7 led to the writing of this blog article. 

David Rothkopf

It was early on the morning of March 8 that I read Rothkopf’s words cited above, and I have been thinking about them ever since. Heather Cox Richardson included those words in her March 7 Substack post, and when she quotes and makes positive statements about someone, I pay attention.

I had never heard of David Rothkopf before reading his March 7 Substack post, which began with the words cited above. The title of his article is “Living in a Time of Lunatics and Monsters,” and he has good reason to call Hitler a lunatic/monster. Rothkopf is Jewish, and during the Holocaust, his father, Ernst, was able to escape from Europe and come to the United States.

However, more than three dozen of Ernst’s (and, thus, David’s) relatives were killed, as were most of his childhood friends. One aunt had the misfortune to live with her husband and children in Oswiecim, Poland—the town the Germans called Auschwitz.

Even though I had not heard of David Rothkopf (b. 1955), he has written ten books and more than 1,000 articles on international themes for many mainstream publications such as The New York Times and Foreign Affairs.

It is quite clear to me that what he posted in his March 7 “Need to Know” Substack article should be considered with resolute seriousness.

Rothkopf’s article is the sharpest criticism of a U.S. President that I have ever read—and for good reason. That is what makes his piece so important—and so alarming. In his second paragraph, he asserts that

[indent] at this moment in history, the fate of virtually everyone on the planet is being impacted by the toxic cocktail of character flaws, insecurities, and pathologies that are shaping the actions of the President of the United States.

Many of us are incensed that the POTUS has started a war against Iran, and Rothkopf’s criticism is strong, indeed. He says that Trump launched that war “on a whim.” Why? Not only because “he’s insane,” but also because “he’s a malignant narcissist,” “a sociopath,” and “has a fragile ego.”

Trump’s “lunacy,” referring to Rothkopf’s term, is seen in the following ways (among a multitude of others):

** The reason/purpose for his ordering the bombing of Iran is completely unclear. Trump has suggested various reasons, but it seems that even he doesn’t know why he decided to do that—or that he won’t admit what his motive was. (Epstein files? Increasing cost of living prices? Falling polling numbers? All of the above? Something else? Who knows!)

** His calling for an “unconditional surrender of Iran” and even suggesting that perhaps he should pick the new ayatollah—which certainly would not have been the son of the ayatollah who was chosen to rule just two or three days ago.

** And now, he has suggested the takeover of Cuba, perhaps in a manner similar to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela on January 3. Perhaps that would align well with his changing the name Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a name nobody outside the U.S. uses.

In addition, there is the whole problem of Trump’s love for and use of tariffs, his current insistence on the passing of the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) ahead of the midterm elections, and the possibility that he will do whatever it takes to keep a “big Blue wave” from happening in the November elections.

In light of all I have mentioned above, it is appalling that Trump’s term of office doesn’t end until January 20, 2029, nearly three years from now! “Heaven help us!” as the old-timers used to say.

But don’t forget the No Kings! protests planned for March 28. The promoters explicitly expect it to be the largest political protest in U.S. history. Surely that will have significant ramifications for the November elections.