More than a dozen members of Congress met with a Yale psychiatry professor for two days to discuss President Trump’s mental fitness for office, Politico reported Wednesday.
During meetings on Dec. 5 and 6, Dr. Bandy X. Lee warned the group that Trump “is going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.” All of the lawmakers in attendance were Democrats, except for one Republican senator. “We feel that the rush of tweeting is an indication of his falling apart under stress. Trump is going to get worse and will become uncontainable with the pressures of the presidency,” Lee told Politico.
Concerns about Trump mental health have grown in recent weeks, as Trump continues to disparage public figures, seemingly threaten violence against journalists and joust with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un over Twitter. On Dec. 28, Trump gave a 30-minute interview to the New York Times which was criticized as hard to follow; NBC national-affairs analyst James Heilemann called him “incoherent.”
Lee edited “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” in which 27 psychiatrists assessed the president’s mental state as “dangerous.” She said she was surprised by the urgency expressed in her December meeting with lawmakers. “One senator said that it was the meeting he most looked forward to in 11 years,” Lee said. “Their level of concern about the president’s dangerousness was surprisingly high.”
On Aug. 17, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said that Trump had “not demonstrated the stability or confidence he needs in order to be successful” as president. On Aug. 23, former CIA director James Clapper said he was questioning the president’s mental fitness and was concerned over his access to nuclear codes.
The new book “Fire and Fury,” which author Michael Wolff says is based on behind-the-scenes West Wing access and interviews with key staffers, contends the president’s aides are “painfully aware” he has a tendency to repeat himself and ramble.
On Thursday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said it was “disgraceful and laughable” to suggest the Trump was not mentally fit. The president will undergo a physical at Walter Reed on Jan. 12, and the results will be made public, the White House says.
