I once again feel like I am in the uncomfortable position of defending Pres. Trump. (And yes, I do still use the title out of respect for the office, not the person currently occupying it.)
There have many examples of Pres. Trump seemingly being confused or not present in the moment. Examples of these are him wandering out of a signing ceremony before signing the document; wandering away early from a lectern at a press conference; not noticing the photographers and Chancellor Merkel asking for a handshake in that photo op; wandering away from his motorcade upon disembarking Air Force One (video below); seemingly confused upon finishing his speech in Poland; rambling during speeches, getting facts wrong.
There have been many threads online positing on if Pres. Trump has dementia or not. Unfortunately, it seems like many of those references are trying to play up the humor of the “crazy old man” trope.
The problem is, I don’t really find it funny. Three members of my family (to my knowledge) have already died from dementia and Alzheimer’s. My mother has started her own struggle with dementia. It is heartbreaking to see anyone, no matter how monstrous, to go through this living death.
There any many implications of if Pres. Trump really is going through ordeal. It explains a lot of the odd behavior, such as the admission that he hasn’t read many if not most of the executive orders he signed. He may just be being used by the people around him, doing what they tell him. They may even tell him they’ve already talked to him about what he’s agreeing to. It may also explain why he has so much of his family around. The family members may be required to help him keep focus. I heard what my step-grandfather had to do to keep grandma’s focus, and I’ve seen what my father has to do to keep mom focused on tasks. And I’ve seen her get confused and easily distracted. This also might explain the almost weekly golf trips. Those may be times that he needs to recharge his focus ability, and maybe avail himself of some experimental treatments.
I think the most important thing we have to remember is that Pres. Trump is a human being, after all, with friends and family who at least tolerate him if not love him. As much as we might hate his policies and the way he is enacting them, he’s still a person.
<Now I think I need a shower….>