I know some of you hate this...

[PCIntern]

but I believe that I know what happened within an hour of that embarassingly frightening "press conference/abbatoir visit" today:

In observing his muscle tone, his hunching, his inability to stay still, his frequent angry outbursts, though somewhat controlled, his periorbital tissue, his vocal cadence, his hoarseness, his fatigue, and even, yes, his hair, I believe that he had been violently enraged for a protracted period of time prior to the meeting with the Enemies-of-the-People and was totally enervated by the episode.

I would be willing to wager that there is an upstairs room in the WH with broken bric a brac, dented walls, and torn curtains.

He is in the throes of a breakdown and is actually in danger from an episode. I know just how much that would upset everyone here. That being said, keep an eye on his signs: the obvious group mentioned above as well as other clues which will let us know that he is treading on very thin ice behaviorally.

Over forty years, I have dealt with a significant number of patients who present much like Master Mushroom did today and when queried, they report, albeit reluctantly, that they had a screaming fight on the way to my office or somewhat earlier that day.

It is what happens when the cognitive dissonance begins to eat through the heretofore nearly-impenetrable armor.

Stay tuned....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Would you say he's decompensating?

Sure looks to me like he's losing the plot.

[PCIntern]

2. Not sure the term applies to a malignant narcissist of his severity...

More like the irresistible force met the immovable object.

But your point is taken....

[kiri]

38. yes, yes...but ?

Yes, yes, But so what? He still holds on to all the power. No one in power will dislodge him.

[enid602]

61. Priceless

But what a perfect time for someone, say the acting AG of NY to seize some of his prized assets.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Whatever happens to him, I hope it's on live TV.

It would be a shame to waste it in a private setting where few could enjoy it.

[DeminPennswoods]

15. Trust me, you don't want a Bud Dwyer type incident

on live TV. For those who don't know, Dwyer committed suicide on live TV.

[Aristus]

16. I saw the video. Disturbing...

[think4yourself]

26. Seriously.

I saw that. Live.

[ZZenith]

27. You'll NEVER see Trump pull a Bud Dwyer.

A Jack Ripper on the other hand...

[irisblue]

28. I can't imagine the apricot hellbeast doing an on screen suicide

Naah
No.
Not a freaking chance.

A massive meltdown, but never an on screen suicide.

[3Hotdogs]

42. If he did a pay-for-view, on air suicide and the proceeds were going to the Republican Party,

would you watch it?

[Autumn]

46. Hell yes.

[BlueSpot]

52. Nope

Not my cup of tea. Even it it was, somebody would have it online pretty quickly.

[GoCubsGo]

50. I hope it happens in public, as well. But, not for enjoyment purposes.

I want his cult followers to see it. If they can see his meltdown/heart attack/stroke/whatever with their own eyes, there's less of an opportunity to try to accuse Democrats, or anyone else of trying to kill him. I have no doubt some will try, but they need to see it firsthand.

[eleny]

4. Illuminating - thanks

[Vogon_Glory]

5. You may well be right, BUT

if you’re looking to deliberately upset people with your observation, post it over at Discussionist.

[nolabear]

6. Maybe. I've certainly had patients who raged and then had a refractory period.

He did look bizarre. The "tan" was very badly done, which tends to happen when he's under stress. And as you say he was subdued but had no ability to self check. He clearly had "we really won" comments prepared but couldn't stop abusing people.

Considering he pulled the trigger on Sessions this afternoon I wonder if having that plan in the works was an overload too. He was keeping something barely under wraps.

I guess we can speculate all day but I do agree that he seems to be incredibly reactive, held together by adulation and almost uncontainable under stress. He resorts to schtick in both sets of circumstances. I often doubt his ability to absorb new information and think on his feet when he does that. He seems to hear trigger words and take off on a familiar path to cover his deficits.

Someday a WHOLE lot of information is going to come out.

[shanti]

45. "Someday a WHOLE lot of information is going to come out."

I would buy the hell out of that book!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. and how might this be um exacerbated?

Hypothetically, what might cause this condition to continue and grow?

[malaise]

8. I await the final

Unraveling

[Wednesdays]

9. Like Hitler in his final days? We can hope.

[Gore1FL]

37. I don't believe I ever saw that clip with the real subtitles before. nt

[California_Republic]

59. Same ... I only saw the endless parodies

[mountain grammy]

39. Yes, I see donnie

But blow his brains out? Never.

[safeinOhio]

10. My educated guess...

You ain’t seen nutting yet.

[PCIntern]

11. He's gonna flip out on camera one of these days...

I know it...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. His "Sit down!" rant against Acosta was as close to a flip out as we've seen

Unless you mean full punches being thrown.

[2naSalit]

12. I thought the same thing...

it was right after Tester's win was announced, he had high hopes of unseating Tester and lost. And he hates the press so it's just been a rotten day for that poor bastard, and well deserved.

He's teetering on the brink. I expect a couple more tough questions and he's going to tear up the the room and throw himself on the floor and scream, kick and wail at the top of his lungs... all on camera.

[Arazi]

14. His rage was palpable, right from the start. He was seething

[Blue_true]

17. You are the professional. Me? If that baboon dropped to the floor and started chewing the carpet,

I only want it caught on tape and that he does not hurt anyone.

[DontBooVote]

21. I just had to stifle myself from spraying my Starbucks frap all over the joint. ROFL!

...that baboon chewing the carpet...

[Corgigal]

18. He just your basic abuser.

The boss yelled at him today, so he went home and kicked the dog and beat the wife.

I worked 911 for 8 years, boy did the domestic violence calls came in after the football games. Didn't even have to know when the games were over, the phones lit up.

[ZZenith]

29. One of society's seldom recognized heroes -

I can’t imagine lasting 8 weeks let alone 8 years.

Thanks for doing that.

[JudyM]

54. !

That is horrific.

[Initech]

19. Funny, before the election I predicted that he'd go full Howard Hughes before the 4 years are up.

Still plenty of time for it to happen, and man he lost it today!

[Cha]

20. Oh Hell Yeah! Someone told

him finally that losing the House to Democracy wasn't "winning".. and it sunk into that POSS.

[UTUSN]

22. What about the snorting and the raccoon paint job on the face?!1

[gordianot]

24. Evil clown paint.

[gordianot]

23. Narcisstic grandiose self ego inflation.

His berating of the media was a verbal assault anything is possible. I thought it was deliberately planned and staged. God help us when he really loses control.

[ThingsGottaChange]

25. What in the hell is the big hold up?

I really can't take any more of this.

[quakerboy]

40. hold up for what??

[Flaleftist]

48. For his on camera breakdown that is so bad no one will be able to deny he is unfit.

No, it hasn't happened yet. Maybe a profanity laced tirade where he throws stuff and/or physically attacks a reporter. Maybe something so bad the secret service actually has to hold him back. There is definitely room for his behavior to escalate.

[quakerboy]

55. There is no such possibility.

He could literally be foaming at the mouth, speaking gibberish, and literally shoot down a bunch of reporters decrepit rambo style, and his supporters (and the senate republicans) would compliment him on his good work.

There is NO line he can cross that is too far for them.

[smirkymonkey]

30. What are the stages?

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. He's breaking through denial finally and is at the anger stage. Unfortunately, I don't think he will ever get to acceptance. For him, it will just end in a catastrophic meltdown and he will take everyone else down with him.

[FakeNoose]

31. I read Omarosa's book "Unhinged" about the first year of Cheeto's presidency

... and also she writes about the 14 or so years that she's known him before he became President. She is certain that he has declined mentally since the election. Omarosa was present at a meeting when she believes he had some sort of "episode." Apparently nobody realized it was happening at the time, but in retrospect she believes it was a stroke. He seemed dazed, slurring his words, and had trouble drinking out of a bottle of water. He couldn't bring the water to his mouth and people thought it was funny.

So that happened over a year ago, and he could be having them more frequently now. Of course the White House doctors probably weren't consulted, but even if they were, they would never say anything.

[tosh]

32. Oooh! Danger...

from an episode...

I like it!

[jmbar2]

33. Narcissists don't fail gracefully

The election was a massive rebuke to his illusions of popularity. Especially the nationwide jubilation over winning the house, and unleashing Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler on him.

[KT2000]

34. he is a limited human being

His coping skills are just abuse. He cannot think himself out of a problem. Yes, he will continue tantrums, especially after January. How this ends - who knows. We haven't ever seen anything like this before.

[Totally Tunsie]

35. I posted this earlier in another thread, but it's also appropriate here.

I'd rather watch the Press Corps asking the really tough questions and not let up on Doturd, to the point where he just absolutely loses it in public and goes completely ballistic. He's been relatively successful in hiding his temperament until just recently, but now the cracks are beginning to appear. I just want him to show the world what a mean, miserable bastard he really is, and he's getting close.

I say keep pushing him. A walkout lets him off easy.

[still_one]

36. Maybe he is on glucocorticoid steroids or some other drug affecting his behavior, or maybe he is ust

a sociopath

[Separation]

41. The "press", "media", "whatever", I believe were his words.

Should start reporting these outbursts as such, and apologize to the country that what we had to watch as a "Presidential Presser" actually turned out to be an unhinged person with cognitive dissonance.

That should be tomorrows headline.

[Autumn]

43. I don't hate it. What you describes is what's going on.

[PCIntern]

44. Some here get pissed when a

Diagnosis is made over tv.

[Autumn]

53. I've been here long enough to know when you opine on something

like this you know what you are talking about.

[USALiberal]

58. Espcially from a dentist. Nt

[LanternWaste]

60. I imagine we recognize the difference between

I imagine we recognize the difference between an informal, arm-chair diagnosis which holds little to no academic merit (objectively) versus a hack politician alleging a diagnosis to better move forward his own policies and agendas.

[Stuart G]

47. A possible explanation for this behavior, given your analyisis in OP could be this:

Trump has gone off because of one reason and that is that it is now totally clear that his son Don Jr. will be indicted within the next few days. Perhaps tomorrow.. It would make sense that Trump somehow found out that the indictment was definite and cannot be stopped.
..Further, Trump found out ahead of time due to connections, and went off..as you describe, in a tantrum, not because of the election loss, but because it is now definite that Junior is going to be indicted and tried as a criminal :getting help from an enemy country..
..........Now how does dad feel about that????
..There is no escaping the consequences of Jr.'s trial and dad's embarrassment of what the trial means. And what the publicity means to the Trump himself..His son is a traitor to the country that his dad is the Presdent of.

....Think of it..and...one more thought..let's say Trump found out about his son's indictment within the previous hour or two and he went off, and then had to have this conference..which he should have avoided at all costs.

[PCIntern]

49. Excellent hypothesis.

Quite possible. It would explain the extreme angers and physical symptoms

[Stuart G]

51. Further, It also explains future thinking as opposed to past thinking...

..Trump may be thinking something like this:...Oh my ,now I am going to have to face my son's indictment and trial...... and relive all the negative publicity around the events of Russian Collusion that my son is accused of, as well as my collusion..

Perhaps dad's breakdown was due to this worry about what is ..going to happen soon to his son, and his own reputation with his son. Trump's own reputation will be destroyed if this trial takes place as well as his entire family's reputation. not patriots, but traitors to the United States

That would surely cause Trump to act like that..(and I did not see it, but your explanation is very clear) The family name will be forever ruined far worse than it is now. What if the indictment comes in the next 2 days and Trump knows it is coming and cannot be stopped.?

[Neema]

56. This is why I think it was something of a blessing that the Dems didn't completely

rout this election. There is currently NO ONE holding him accountable, or reining him in one bit. A complete Dem rout would have sent him into a rage stroke like we've never seen. He would have lashed out at far more people than Acosta, and stoked his hate-filled base to unprecedented violence. I'm sure I can't even imagine the kinds of things he'd do out of spite, because he's the kind of moron that would set his own clothes on fire for revenge.

Before the election, when this was suggested, I said "bring it on motherfucker." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be the most vulnerable among us that would suffer the consequences. And until we have some fucking grownups sworn in that will actually provide some oversight, I'm glad this election was more mixed.

Not to say I'm not disappointed that Texas, Florida and Georgia went the way they did. But we knew going in we were a mile back from the starting line on those races due to all the GOP ratfuckery. I don't honestly think any of those candidates lost in pure votes. I think they started with a population that would make the race close and used all their tricks to make it so. Because you can't tell me that 18% of black women voted for DeSantis. BULL. SHIT.

Anyway, when it comes to someone as unhinged as 45, I think until we have a true majority we'll do better by slowly boiling the frog to death, so to speak.

[Paladin]

57. He can't disintegrate fast enough to suit me. (nt)