Trump’s mental acuity in question amid pattern of erratic behavior 

The New York Times released a scathing new piece Monday, titled: “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate.” The piece questions President Trump’s mental acuity and taps into something that’s becoming harder to ignore: just how sharp the president is right now.  

In fact, this conversation isn’t just coming from political opponents anymore. In some cases, it’s coming from people who once supported him.  

Now, let’s walk through what’s fueling it.  

In his second term, Trump appears less restrained: he’s speaking longer, using more profanity, at times even dozing off in meetings. And it’s not just about tone — it’s about substance.  

A series of disjointed and sometimes hard-to-follow statements recently included a threat toward Iran, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight.” He later told The New York Post, “I was willing to do it.”  

On the heels of that, he took aim at the pope, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Add to that a now-deleted image many interpreted as portraying himself in a Christ-like role, and you start to see why this conversation is escalating.  

Each moment on its own … maybe you brush it off. But together, people are asking: what exactly are we watching?  

Some of the sharpest criticism isn’t just coming from the left.  

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who recently broke with Trump, said threatening to destroy Iran’s civilization was, quote, “not tough rhetoric, it’s insanity.” Even people who worked inside his administration are weighing in. Ty Cobb, a former White House lawyer, said Trump is “a man who is clearly insane.”  

And this isn’t just anecdotal — the public is noticing too.  

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 61 percent of Americans think Trump has become more erratic with age.   

Now, of course, Trump and his allies reject all of this. They argue what critics call erratic is actually strategic — that unpredictability is a tool, not a flaw. Trump himself has long said he’s passed cognitive tests and is fully capable.  

So that’s the tension at the center of this. Is this calculated? A kind of “keep them guessing” approach to leadership?  

Or is it something else? Because the presidency isn’t just any job, especially in moments of global conflict.  

At some point, the question stops being whether the strategy works politically and becomes whether it works for the responsibility that comes with the office.  

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.   

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