Following sharp threats from US President Donald Trump against Iran, politicians and former confidants of the president have cited his remarks as evidence of possible mental illness. Democratic lawmakers have called for an investigation and possible impeachment under the 25th Amendment. The allegations build on a long-standing debate among mental health experts and former staff.
The trigger for the latest criticism were Trump's remarks about an ultimatum to Iran. The president threatened, among other things, that "an entire civilization" would "go down tonight" and used terms like "crazy bastards" in Truth Social posts. Democratic Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari wrote on the platform X that Trump was "quite obviously mentally ill and incapable." She called for the application of the 25th Amendment, which allows for impeachment in cases of incapacity. Other critics expressed similar views: Trump's words showed that he was "mentally ill" and "a lunatic."
The debate is not new. As early as 2017, 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts, led by psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee, warned of "dangerous mental instability" in the book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump." They saw signs of "malignant narcissism" in Trump's behavior and argued that he was unfit for the presidency. Lee later reported that she had been contacted by concerned White House staff. John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, allegedly used the book as a "handbook" to deal with the president's "psychoses" and referred to the White House internally as "Crazytown."
Trump's niece Mary L. Trump, a clinical psychologist herself, has repeatedly stated publicly that her uncle suffers from narcissistic personality disorder and shows signs of dementia – similar to his father Fred Trump. She spoke of declining short-term memory and increasing impulse control problems. Psychologist John Gartner warned in 2025 of a deterioration of cognitive abilities and a "severe mental illness."
In Trump's second term, the criticism flared up again. Former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews called Trump's attempts to annex Greenland in January 2026 "the most mentally ill, deranged thing" Trump had ever done. Former military leaders like ex-General Mark Milley also expressed concern about Trump's mental stability.
Opponents of the accusations point to the "Goldwater Rule" of the American Psychiatric Association, which prohibits remote diagnoses of public figures without a personal examination. Trump himself has always dismissed such criticism as politically motivated attacks and has repeatedly called himself a "very stable genius." The White House dismissed calls for a cognitive examination as "frivolous" and politically motivated.
The current discussion also revolves around the question of whether Trump's rhetoric – profane, threatening, and sometimes contradictory – indicates a deterioration or merely reflects his known style. So far, there has been no official medical assessment by the White House physician. The debate about the president's mental fitness remains highly polarized and is instrumentalized by the respective political camps.
