The Painful Decline of Donald Trump

I was thinking today about what a real set of leaders in a real Republican Party would do in the face of Donald Trump’s grotesque physical and mental collapse. Of course, they would never, ever, ever recommend to the Cabinet and Vice President that they step in with any meaningful action, even if Trump drooled on the Resolute Desk on live TV.

Still, sometimes I like to put my brain back in Official Washington mode and write something in the vernacular of Big Historical Documents. With that, I present a fantasy of what should and could be said — but will certainly not be said — to start the ball rolling on the 25th Amendment process.

The Vice President of the United States
The Members of the Cabinet
The White House
Washington, D.C.

To the Vice President and Members of the Cabinet:

We write to you with a deep sense of both our constitutional responsibility and personal reluctance. The question we must raise is among the most solemn contemplated by our system of government: whether the President of the United States remains able to discharge the powers and duties of the office as required by Article II and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

Over the past months, a pattern of plainly observable behavior has emerged that raises grave doubts about the President’s capacity to fulfill the essential functions of the office and his mandated role as Commander in Chief. These concerns are not grounded in policy disagreements, partisan conflicts, or personal animus. Many of us consider ourselves passionate supporters of the President, and all have stood by his nominees and policies in the past. Instead, these profound questions arise from the practical, daily operation of the executive branch as experienced and observed by members of Congress of both Houses, nonpartisan political observers and historians, and the public at large.

Numerous reports describe the President as increasingly unable to remain fully awake, alert, and engaged during critical briefings, including those concerning national security crises, military operations, and major domestic emergencies. In multiple settings, the President has appeared to lose focus, fall asleep, drift into unrelated topics, or fall silent for extended periods while senior advisers attempt to elicit a decision or basic acknowledgment of the issues at hand...