It always has been, though his aging doesn’t help. A little over a week ago, which in the Trump Era seems like a decade ago, Trump had a massive online meltdown, where he posted hundreds of times on Truth Social in the span of a few hours, including doozies reposting garbage like this:

Not to put to fine a point on it, but that’s fucking insane. If a relative of mine said this, I would tell them to seek medical attention. This is not normal behavior, regardless of what position they hold. That said, I’m skeptical that this is due to dementia or some other age-related issue (though aging might contribute a bit). Because Trump has always said unhinged things, especially when he’s not in his comfort zone. Nine years ago, before Trump even took office, I noted the following:

I would add two other observations about the narcissist. First, he is essentially a full-tilt diva, with the rest of us either as bit, cameo players, or else the audience (or both). One day the script might be ‘hard-charging businessman’, the next ‘compassionate philanthropist’, followed by ‘competent manager’ and so on. Regardless, the show must go on. Ideally, his entire life is a fantasy, unmoored from reality. Anyone who challenges this fantasy causes extreme psychological distress.

That brings us to sunny point #2. Just like the addict’s primary goal is to get that fix, the narcissist’s primary goal is to maintain the fantasy. They will construct elaborate mechanisms to deny unpleasant realities. Plainly put, they turn everyone around them into liars. You have to lie as a self-defense mechanism in order to fend off and manage the impulsiveness, the bouts of inadequacy, the hare-brained ideas, and the laziness and ineptitude. If you are a reasonably honest person, this is soul-crushing.

The narcissist is often not very good for the organization’s mission. While he often rose to his position by selling a five-star sizzle on a one-star steak, he’s often underprepared and unskilled, and very dependent on others–essentially, he’s an Illustrious Name on the Door. Unfortunately, leaders, on occasion, do have to lead–and that does involve work, knowledge and experience, and relevant skills. The dishonest climate is another massive problem. Problems will fester and multiply because the narcissist doesn’t want to hear about them–the show must go on. Then things reach a crisis point, as the lies collapse on each other. At this point, the narcissist swings into paranoia and rage. Why did all of these awful people lie to me? (Can’t imagine why…). Then the impulsiveness kicks in. Needless to say, this isn’t the optimal environment for crisis management. So if you care about the goals of the organization, the narcissist boss is often the largest impediment. This too is soul-crushing.

To be clear, being a narcissist can be advantageous: there are times when self-delusional confidence is incredibly useful (if for no one other than the narcissist). Needless to say, the narcissist doesn’t suffer from imposter syndrome (most of the time anyway, when the imaginary show in his head is uninterrupted). And they often have, at the very least, a superficial ability to play to an audience. Erratic behavior, at times, can be advantageous.

Trump says ridiculous things because it makes him feel good about himself. The aging manifests itself in poor(er) word choice, his obvious fatigue, physical issues (walking in a straight line), and his complete lack of inhibition; the lack of inhibition does exacerbate his narcissistic tendencies. But he has always babbled on when he does not know something–and he is not very bright and very incurious, so there are many things he does not know–rather than shutting up, or Gritty forbid, deferring to someone else (a narcissist like Trump never admits inadequacy because it damages his conception of himself and it is publicly embarrassing).

The fundamental issue is that Trump is, and has been, mentally ill: when I use the word narcissist, I do not mean that he is a self-absorbed asshole (though he is). I mean that he is often delusional and does not perceive reality in any way that could be described as accurate. Moreover, he does not recognize that he is ill and takes no steps to control his illness; in fact, he has established significant structures to prevent the intrusion of reality.

Outside of The Guardian and The Huffington Post, which have discussed this in detail with clinical professionals, the only media outlet that has even come remotely close is Politico (?!?), which last week described Trump as a twelve year-old child.

His longstanding mental health problem and the inability to recognize it is far more dangerous than any possible aging.