​I was recently talking with a friend about Trump’s unrelenting obsession with Greenland.  (Unrelenting and completely unnecessary obsession, since Trump says the U.S. needs Greenland for our national security -- even though initially he insisted that the reason the U.S. needs it is for its precious metals -- neither of which is true since we actually have a military base there, and Denmark, which owns Greenland, has long been saying we can build more bases there if we want…and that we can have access to mining more of the precious metals.)  But Trump’s mania has only grown, like a little child crying out “I want it!!  I want it!!  It’s mine!  It's mine!!  It’s mine!!!!

And if you’ve been following the news, you know that’s not especially hyperbolic.

I said to my friend that Trump’s obsession on Greenland struck me as a symptom of dementia, since the obsession was so totally focused on only one thing, unable to be aware of reality around him.  My friend not only agreed but took it further – “Everything Trump does is dementia.”

By the way, along with dementia, everything Trump does is also his malignant narcissism, which is not just descriptive, but a specific medical term.  “I want it!!  I want it!!  It’s mine!  It’s mine!!!!" does not just come out of nowhere.  In its simplest medical explanation, a malignant narcissist is someone whose world is so deeply self-centered that he is willing to burn down his own home if he doesn’t get what he wants.  

(In Trump's case, not only do we see this condition manifesting with his tariffs destroying the economy; his attacks bringing in ICE, the National Guard and active-duty troops to destroy U.S. cities; and threatening to attack our own NATO ally Greenland destroying U.S. relationships in the world, but literally destroying his own home, the East Wing of the White House.)

And this lunatic obsession still keeps growing, almost to a mania.  Because dementia is degenerative.  If the U.S. can’t buy Greenland, Trump has threatened to attack the island – which is owned not only by an ally, but an ally in NATO meaning if we attack Greenland, then all other NATO nations are obligated by treaty to defend it.  Which most European nations in NATO have said they would.  Which, if they had to fight the U.S. would rip apart NATO and deeply hurt national security.  Which is where Trump’s malignant narcissism also comes in.

It’s all so crazy that it’s hard to know where this goes, but – baring the utterly improbable (which you can’t discount with Trump involved, especially with his dementia, but it’s still improbable) – this will not lead to us attacking Greenland.  Almost no one in Congress wants that.  Even MAGOPs have said so.  And almost no one in Congress wants to see NATO break up either (Even MAGOPs have said so, as well), so that isn’t going to happen.  It could, however, lead to some retaliatory economic actions by European countries that could be very harmful to the U.S.  Several economic experts have written that European nations hold cards that could cause massive economic collapse in the U.S.  – which is where Trump’s malignant narcissism comes in, again. 

Unless, of course, Trump is convinced to back down.  That’s a big “unless,” but then Trump hasn’t gained the nickname of “TACO Trump” for nothing – Trump Always Chickens Out.”  Though taking control of Greenland has reached the point of becoming a manic obsession of Trump’s, because dementia is degenerative.

And yet still Trump’s mania keeps growing.  Which brought us to Trump threatening more tariffs on our European allies in NATO because, in order to support of their treaty (“our” treaty, too, for that matter), they sent advance troops to Greenland, just to be prepared.

Of course, the power to invoke tariffs sits with Congress.  And as much as MAGOPs who control Congress are supportive of NATO, they largely remain slavish to Trump.  And thus far haven’t pushed back on blocking him trying to impose tariffs.  The only way a president can invoke tariffs is if there is a national security emergency – and listening to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Todd Bessent trying to explain on the Sunday talk show why these tariffs were an emergency was an exercise in comic instability.  He not only was stumbling over his words that was almost like a bad vaudeville sketch, but his “explanation” was that “this is an emergency because it’s needed to prevent an emergency.”  By that standard, getting a scheduled oil change for your car every three months is an emergency.

But it was the text letter that Trump sent to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, responding to a conciliatory note the Norwegian leader had written.  It’s a stunning reply, the infantile mania and malignant narcissism is dripping out of almost every dementia-laden expression.  And yes, I know that sounds hyperbolic, especially from someone who isn’t a doctor – but then I’ve read the letter.  You decide:

​​It’s hard to know where to begin.  But the best place is probably what Dr. Mary Trump, who is his niece and a professional psychologist, wrote:  "When I saw this letter, I literally thought, 'This is too stupid even for him.'  I should have known better."

The next best place to go is the first 12 words.  But Prime Minister Støre's reply speaking to the press later explains things best.  He said --

"As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government."

Random reactions fly in from all over the place to Trump's delusional, loony ramblings –

He didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize, so he’s decided to go for war.

Why did he say this to Norway??  Does he think Norway is the same as Denmark and owns Greenland?

The U.S., as noted, does actually have military bases in Greenland, and have been offered to build more, if they want to for American national security.

Denmark can protect itself against China and Russia, since there is a NATO treaty, and all signatory nations are sworn to join forces if Denmark is attacked by China or Russia.  Or the United States.  Or anyone.  And further, neither Russia or China are threatening Denmark.

There are no “written documents” between the United States government and American Indians when they took a “right of ownership” of the entire country.  Though we had boats land here hundreds of years ago, too, and took all the land as ours.  (That said, there are, however written treaties between the government and Indians about Indian lands – though the U.S. broke all of those.  So much for written documents.)

And the only thing Trump has done for NATO is attempt to destroy it, even previously saying he wouldn’t come to the defense of any country attacked by Russia.

Finally, if Trump actually ever did try to attack the island in order to “have Complete and Total Control of Greenland,” it would rip apart NATO and make “The World” less secure.

I don’t know where this lunacy all goes, but – Denmark is not selling Greenland.  And Congress has made clear it will not stand for us attacking Greenland.  I wish I knew what MAGOPs in Congress will do, though.  But this letter did seem to jolt some of them – not just from the threats it made, but also how Trump’s “cognitive decline” (the polite term for dementia, which is degenerative) is clearly worsening on many stages – including ICE brutality in Minneapolis, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, putting 1,500 active-duty troops on alert for deploying to Minnesota, instantly declaring the murdered Renee Good a “domestic terrorist,” adding more new tariffs on our NATO allies, falling asleep at public events in his office, wandering off to stare out a window in the middle of a meeting, posting a tweet that declares himself the “president of Venezuela,” bragging building a golden bathroom, tearing down the East Wing of the White House, talking for 10 minutes about snake bites at a family Christmas party in the White House, panicking at the Epstein files and more, leading to him having a 33% approval in the AP-Norc poll, and a CNN-SRSS poll showing 58% of Americans say his first term has been a failure.

And none of that includes Trump's loony, fevered cries about invading Canada (!!) and making it the 51st state.  That's from so long ago (months, which is "so long ago" when measured in Trump Years) that it almost seems quaint.  In a mentally-disturbing way.

While some Democrats in Congress have started to raise the 25th Amendment as a serious issue concerning Trump's mental health, I don’t expect that to go anywhere – for now.  It requires members of the cabinet and the vice president to sign off, and it’s borderline impossible to see these people acting that way -- for now.  (If it becomes impossible for even MAGAs to ignore, incoherent and unable to address reality, that's another matter.  And since dementia is degenerative, Trump will soon be 80, he's this bad now, and has three more years in office, we'll have to see where that leads.)  But just having the issue raised seriously now is a significant matter that could take hold in the country, as Trump’s out-of-control, dangerous dementia and malignant narcissism worsens. 

I also don’t expect much public criticism from MAGOPs in Congress, although I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a lot of private calls to Marco Rubio, Susie Wiles, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Tulsi Gabbard and even Stephen Miller.  Along the lines of “You have GOT to get him to back down from this.  Otherwise we will have to go public.”  And if that doesn’t make it clear enough – “And if he actually orders an attack on Greenland, he not only will likely be impeached, but even could get convicted in the Senate.”

(What I do expect -- though we haven't seen yet -- are the same major frontpage headline stories about Trump from all the journalists who wrote horrified stories whenever President Biden had a senior moment or walked like an old man.  And he did have cognitive issues, though they were normal ones of old age -- what he did not have was dementia or malignant narcissism, both of which are diseases.)  

To be clear, this is not about Trump (well – not all about Trump…), it’s about the MAGOPs in Congress who enable him, protect him, support him and literally pass the bills into law that he wants.  I’m sure there are some elected MAGOPs who support him because they are stupid, and some because they are weak and need to follow a leader, but also some who don’t truly support him but are afraid of physical blowback by the MAGA base, and some because they’ll get primaried.  And some who have fascist blood in their veins.

One can imagine Putin being overjoyed by the risk of Trump ripping apart NATO – though he should be wary.  Since Greenland won’t be attacked or bought, we may end up putting more bases there, and it actually got the rest of NATO to unite even closer.  So, in the long run, this is likely to be damaging to Russia.

And it’s damaging, too, to the United States.  But it’s also very damaging to Trump and his party.  Because everything truly lunatic Trump does, every horror he orders, every crazy statement he makes, only serves to confirm to the public why he has a 33% approval. And why 58% of the country says his first year in office has been a failure.