OPINION: Trump may be cruising toward a rendezvous with the 25th Amendment

You have to ask yourself — what’s going on in our commander-in-chief’s upper story? His obsession with securing Greenland's land title, even if it breaks up NATO, is absolutely bizarre. The U.S. can already use Greenland for just about anything we want–military bases, mining its minerals to our heart’s content, whatever. But Trump won't be satisfied until he has a deed to the property because, as he said, it is “psychologically important to me."

Trump has not ruled out military action to get what he wants, saying he can do it the “easy way” or the “hard way.” That echoes the threat he made before sending the military to snatch President Maduro of Venezuela. He has now threatened to impose tariffs on eight of our NATO allies — Germany, Britain, Norway, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark — who oppose the unlawful land grab. The tariffs will start at 10% on Feb. 1 and increase to 25% on June 1, until the nations cry “uncle.”

This is in addition to the tariffs agreed upon just last year.

Our European allies are considering retaliatory moves that could devastate the American economy. The principal measure, often called the EU’s trade “bazooka,” deserves an explanatory column of its own. This, along with a variety of other off-putting actions against some of our staunchest traditional allies, has led to massive efforts to forge new trading relationships among them, as well as to stronger ties to China, our major adversary.

It may not have occurred to Trump that the U.S. Supreme Court is currently getting prepared to issue an opinion on the lawfulness of Trump’s use or misuse of the constitutional power of Congress to impose tariffs. While the Court must rule on the case before it, individual Justices' votes can be swayed by extremely troubling current events. This naked misuse of power to coerce our closest allies certainly can’t convince members of the Court to let Trump run roughshod over the Constitution.

If this were the only inexplicable action of our nation’s chief executive, it would be bad enough. In combination with a steady stream of unhinged actions, it is truly frightening. The man behind the nation’s wheel appears to be in serious need of mental help.

Trump has exhibited a lust for power and praise that is becoming practically insatiable. In the old days, we called it megalomania. A megalomaniac is a person who has an excessive belief in their own importance, power, or abilities, often leading to delusions of grandeur and a lust for power. Nowadays, the symptoms are associated with narcissistic personality disorder. Dr. John Gartner, a distinguished psychologist, has offered an intriguing explanation of how Trump seems to fit the profile of what he characterizes as a malignant narcissist. He posits that Trump may not be able to serve his full term as President because of the malady.

If Gartner is correct, there should be serious consideration of invoking the 25th Amendment. It provides authority for a majority of the Cabinet to declare the President disabled, thereby making the vice president the acting president. The President can contest the declaration, leading to a Congressional decision. This is an issue that must be addressed before a major catastrophe befalls our beloved nation.

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Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He also publishes at substack.com/@jjcommontater