In Dr. John Gartner’s view, the pattern of Donald Trump’s recent behavior isn’t a collection of random slip-ups or the unavoidable quirks of aging. He argues it looks like a trajectory—an unmistakable arc of a public figure under mounting neurological and psychological strain. Gartner frames it as a collision between traits long associated with malignant narcissism and the kind of cognitive deterioration often linked to dementia: a mind wired for grandiosity, paranoia, and aggression now losing the internal controls that once kept those impulses partly contained.
He points to the increasingly visible signs: verbal stumbles that go beyond ordinary gaffes, moments of confusion that can’t be brushed off as simple fatigue, physical stiffness and hesitations that raise concern among observers, and rambling monologues that drift without coherence. In Gartner’s assessment, as memory weakens and executive function frays, the underlying traits—impulsiveness, vindictiveness, the urge to dominate—don’t fade. They intensify. A personality built on denying weakness becomes more erratic when weakness starts breaking through. A worldview shaped around identifying enemies becomes even more hostile when the ability to regulate emotions erodes.
For millions who have watched aging relatives slip into cognitive decline, the pattern feels unsettlingly familiar. The difference is scale. Instead of unfolding quietly inside a household, it plays out on the global stage, amplified by cameras, headlines, and political consequence. Gartner emphasizes that he cannot diagnose without direct medical evaluation, nor can anyone interpret MRI visits without access to official medical findings. Still, he insists the broader pattern of conduct raises enough red flags that the public should not dismiss the warnings outright.
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