US3 min(s) read
Published 12:05 24 May 2026 GMT
A psychologist has declared that the US President’s late-night social media posting sprees are a major sign that he is suffering from psychosis.
Dr John Gartner, a former professor at Johns Hopkins University, has claimed that Donald Trump is "mentally ill and cognitively deteriorating" as he approaches his 80th birthday.
The doctor claimed that a medical degree is not needed to spot the signs. He also dismissed people who argue that clinicians shouldn't diagnose public figures without formally assessing them.
"At this point, it's so absurd to ask questions about, 'Well, can you really make a valid diagnosis from a distance?” he told the hosts of The Daily Beast podcast.
Dr Gartner added, "Not only can you make a valid diagnosis from a distance, you don't even need to be a doctor. You don't even need to be a specialist. You just need to not be under the influence of MAGA drugs."
Unsurprisingly, this is not the first time the psychologist has expressed concern about the president’s mental state.
In April, he said Trump had been "showing signs of frontotemporal dementia since 2019."
Dr Gartner also referred to Trump's habit of "magical thinking," claiming that it is a behaviour strongly linked to psychosis.
The president’s late-night social media frenzies have seen him posting bizarre AI-generated images of himself as Jesus and launching missiles on the earth from a spaceship in outer space.
Understandably, the psychologist thinks that the posts and the hours he shares them at are a serious cause for concern.
Dr Gartner said: "First of all, he's up at all hours of the night, all night...posting all of these lies and crazy stuff.
“The pace of it - that someone would be up all night tweeting - in and of itself is a clinical indicator of some kind of either mania or sundowning, and I think in his case it's actually a combination of both."
Worryingly, Gartner warns that it could be a sign that Trump is preparing the public for a catastrophic scenario, explaining, "Someone who is a malignant narcissist feels powerful through destruction and domination, so that he is getting off with his sadism and his grandiosity."
The White House has vehemently denied the damaging claims.
In a statement, spokesperson Davis Ingle said: "President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health."
