"Trump is going to get worse and will become uncontainable with the pressures of the presidency."
More than a dozen lawmakers, including at least one Republican senator, met last month with a Yale University psychiatry professor for two days of briefings about Donald Trump's fitness for office, Politico reported Wednesday.
Dr. Bandy X. Lee reportedly met with the lawmakers on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 to discuss Trump's increasingly erratic behavior. She left them with a grim warning: Hes going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.
In an interview with Politico, Lee pointed to Trump's past behavior, including going back to conspiracy theories, denying things he has admitted before, his being drawn to violent videos" as indicators of his unstable mental state. Over time, Lee said, his behavior has spiraled out of control even further and will likely continue to do so.
We feel that the rush of tweeting is an indication of his falling apart under stress," Lee told Politico. "Trump is going to get worse and will become uncontainable with the pressures of the presidency."
Lee is the editor of the book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, which features a collection of testimonials from more than two dozen psychiatric professionals evaluating Trumps mental state and fitness to serve.
In December, she published a letter to The New York Times warning that Trump was placing the country "at extreme risk of danger," and called on the public and lawmakers to demand a psychological examination of Trump.
"We are currently witnessing more than his usual state of instability in fact, a pattern of decompensation: increasing loss of touch with reality, marked signs of volatility and unpredictable behavior, and an attraction to violence as a means of coping," Lee wrote. "These characteristics place our country and the world at extreme risk of danger."
She's not alone in her concern.
Richard Painter, who served as the top ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said Tuesday that Trump's tweet comparing his so-called nuclear button to that of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un "is grounds for removal from office under the 25th Amendment."
"This man should not have nukes," Painter said.
"This Tweet is yet more evidence that this man is unfit for office in a democracy. House and Senate Republicans are nuts not to remove him," Painter added.
Even those within Trump's inner circle have voiced concerns about his mental state. Longtime friend and adviser Tom Barrack said in October that Trump's behavior is utterly shocking at times, and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) went as far as convening a hearing in November to discuss whether Trump is stable enough to be trusted with nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also expressed alarm over Trump's desire to expand our nuclear arsenal.
While questions have been raised in the past about Trump's fitness for office, Lee says the situation is getting more urgent as Trump appears to be headed in a downward spiral.
We believe that he is now further unraveling in ways that contribute to his belligerent nuclear threats," Lee and two other medical professionals wrote in a statement on behalf of the National Coalition of Concerned Mental Health Experts.
"We urge that those around him, and our elected representatives in general, take urgent steps to restrain his behavior and head off the potential nuclear catastrophe that endangers not only Korea and the United States but all of humankind," said the statement, which was signed by more than 100 medical professionals.
When asked if Americans should be concerned about the presidents mental fitness after his latest round of rage tweets directed at Kim Jong Un, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said people should be concerned about the North Korean dictator's mental health.
Many people are concerned about Kim Jong Un's mental instability. However, the difference with Trump is that the U.S. Constitution provides a mechanism for removing an unfit president and with each passing day, the case to use that mechanism grows stronger.
