Slurring and suddenly decrepit, insiders fear Trump is having a breakdown. But, says MAUREEN CALLAHAN, there's a tragic reason he may now WANT to lose the election
Is this what's tanking Trump?
A bombshell report in Vanity Fair reveals that the former president watches footage of his near assassination on a loop, leading his closest advisers to fear that he may be self-sabotaging.
'He's been watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head — over and over again,' a GOP source close to the campaign said. 'He may actually legit have PTSD.'
Of course! How could he not?
It seems unlikely Trump is seeking professional help. A man of his generation and bearing would probably see that as a sign of weakness rather than strength.
But if he wants to save his flailing campaign — and that's a substantial 'if' — perhaps he should.
According to the NIH, common hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder include 'reliving the traumatic event', 'cognition and mood symptoms', and 'feeling irritable and having angry or aggressive outbursts'.
A bombshell report in Vanity Fair reveals that the former president watches footage of his near assassination on a loop, leading his closest advisers to fear that he may be self-sabotaging.
Insiders are seeing these symptoms manifest. So are we.
In the past few weeks, Trump has aged rapidly.
Trauma will do that, especially at an advanced age. Mortality is suddenly very near, and perhaps he's wondering if another race, another term, is still worth it.
Perhaps, after narrowly escaping an assassin's bullet, he'd prefer puttering around the golf course and spending what good years he has left with his grandchildren — who, as his 17-year-old granddaughter Kai demonstrated in her glowing RNC speech, love him dearly.
Trump's own wife, after all, has reportedly made it clear she has no interest in a second term and wouldn't move back into the White House.
Ivanka and Jared are out, too. Barron's off to college. Trump is looking at a lonely existence in the Oval, should he win.
Maybe he no longer wants to.
'It's like he's choosing to lose,' an insider told Vanity Fair.
Another source said Trump is fuming that he's up against Kamala Harris.
'They cheated by swapping out Biden,' he gripes.
And then there are his legal woes. Trump will be sentenced in a Manhattan court on September 18, found guilty of falsifying business records, and he still faces at least two other federal trials — one over January 6 and the other over election interference in Georgia.
Add to that Harris's surging poll numbers, the bump she's about to get from the Democratic National Convention next week, and this slobbery media tongue-bath — despite Harris not giving one interview or holding one presser — and things look very grim indeed.
Trump, we can see, is feeling it.
His complexion is wan, his energy low, and in that rambling sit-down with Elon Musk, his voice was slurry.
His speeches lack the power and precision he once exhibited. Now he rambles, takes oratorical side streets, seems to quite literally lose the plot or the point he's trying to make.
In the past few weeks, Trump has aged rapidly. Trauma will do that, especially at an advanced age. Perhaps, after narrowly escaping an assassin's bullet, he'd prefer puttering around the golf course and spending what good years he has left with his grandchildren.
Trump's own wife, after all, has reportedly made it clear she has no interest in a second term and wouldn't move back into the White House. Ivanka and Jared are out, too. Barron's off to college. Trump is looking at a lonely existence in the Oval, should he win.
Ironically, in many ways, Trump suddenly resembles no one so much as his former rival, whose decrepitude made Trump — aged 78 to Biden's 81 — seem positively youthful.
Now, up against the 59-year-old Harris, Trump is the crotchety, forgetful, angry, kind-of-racist-and-sexist old guy all the neighbors avoid.
That post-assassination attempt goodwill, the bravery and defiance Trump displayed in the seconds after – it's all evaporated.
Trump has only himself to blame.
The nicknames no longer amuse — 'Kamabla' hasn't stuck. The race-baiting jibes at how 'black' she seems only redound to her benefit, while making Trump look small and pathetic.
Kamala gets her 'Brat' summer, speaking to adoring, enthusiastic crowds, spreading her message of optimism and joy — vague stuff, to be sure — while Trump retreats.
Why isn't he hitting Harris on her political weaknesses, which are legion, instead of being a bully?
'She actually called me weird,' Trump griped in a press conference on Thursday. 'I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she'll be a terrible president.'
Trump's team, try as they might, can't stop him.
'I do think it's counterproductive to call [Harris] stupid,' longtime Trump friend Roger Stone said this week.
Meanwhile, Republican insiders tell my colleague Andrew Neil that words such as 'deranged' and 'breakdown' are being used increasingly to describe Trump's mental state.
And this isn't Trump's first go-round.
In fact, he is the only presidential candidate ever to run against a favored female Democratic icon and win. He called Hillary Clinton many things, but he never called her stupid.
The job should be simple: all Trump needs to do is hit Harris on the economy, the border, foreign policy and Israel, and her lack of concrete plans or vision for the country.
What is he waiting for? Inflation is going down. The Fed has indicated another rate cut in September. Harris will claim credit for bringing American hostages home from Russian prisons.
In Tim Walz, she's got an affable, bland, older Midwestern guy the base has embraced — unlike Trump's running mate J.D. Vance, who has proved polarizing and who can't shake that 'childless cat ladies' comment.
Right now, this election looks like Kamala's to lose.
Shrewdly, she's positioning herself as the underdog — albeit an underdog who raised a record $81 million in the 24 hours following Biden's withdrawal.
The job should be simple: all Trump needs to do is hit Harris on the economy, the border, foreign policy and Israel, and her lack of concrete plans or vision for the country.
On Friday, she spoke in North Carolina about her plans to build an 'opportunity economy', calling for federal regulations on grocery store pricing, giving lower-and middle-income families thousands in child tax credits, and providing $25,000 to first-time homebuyers for down payments.
She also promised 'to cancel medical debt for millions of Americans'.
Trump's response? More name-calling.
'Comrade Kamala,' he said hours later, has unveiled 'a government price fixing scheme that's more reminiscent of a third-world regime than the United States.'
Maybe so. But while Trump tends to his own anxieties, Harris is addressing those of average Americans.
'I know what I'm doing,' Trump reportedly tells his dejected advisers.
Maybe he does. One can never count him out.
But maybe, whether consciously or not, Trump really wants to lose.
