25th Amendment. Bring it on.
“President” Donald J. Trump’s mental condition has been questioned repeatedly by observers over the last few months. Today, a letter from Trump to Turkish President Erdogan has come to light, and it is frightening. Tom Nichols summed it up nicely on Twitter:
1. This is embarrassing beyond words.
2. It suggests the President is mentally unstable.
3. No competent staff would have let this thing leave the building.
4. Imagine the letters we *haven’t* seen.
George Conway also raised the question again about a discussion of the 25th Amendment. The letter in question states in part: “Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to responsible for destroying the Turkish economy- and I will … I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down. You can make a great deal…. I am confidentially enclosing a copy of [General Mazloum’s] letter to me, just received … History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”
In other utterances from a fool, Trump blamed the Soviet Union getting involved in Afghanistan as the reason it had to do “a very big downsizing” and is now called Russia. We are dealing with someone who is not right in the head. How long the feckless GOP remains silent or continues to support this man is unknown, but the reality that Katie Rogers from the New York Times had to ask the White House if the Erdogan letter was for real tells us everything we need to know.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.