The Painful Decline of Donald Trump

The letter congressional cowards will never send.

Rick Wilson - Nov 28

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Still, sometimes I like to put my brain back in Official Washington mode and write something in the vernacular of Big Historical Documents.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.

Many of the signatories of this letter have witnessed this behavior in person during recent interactions with the President.

In addition, professional staff interacting with the President routinely describe episodes that are consistent with cognitive decline. These include:

Difficulty retaining information presented only minutes before, leading to repeated questions and contradictions.

Confusion about time, place, or sequence of events in official meetings and public remarks.

Persistent reliance on a narrow set of anecdotes or phrases, repeated irrespective of context.

Abrupt changes in mood and affect that seem disconnected from the discussion in the room.

Taken individually, such episodes might be written off as fatigue, or the inevitable human strain the office of the President takes, even on younger men. Taken together, and occurring with increasing frequency, they indicate a serious concern that the President may no longer be able to reliably process complex information, evaluate options, and make timely, coherent decisions. Presidents, even Presidents of our own party and partisan inclinations, must be able to fully and cogently engage in the complex rigors of office.

Many of us were openly and publicly critical of President Joe Biden’s evident physical and cognitive decline, not for partisan political reasons, but for the same reasons that motivate this communication today.

The presidency is not merely ceremonial. It requires sustained cognitive function, emotional regulation, and moral judgment. The President must be able to distinguish reality from misinformation, personal grievance from public duty, and transient impulses from the enduring interests of the nation.

When very public signs suggest erosion in these capacities, the risk is not only to the President’s legacy but to the security, prosperity, and continuance of the Republic itself.

We also call your attention to the moral and character dimensions of the President’s diminished capacity. In recent months, there has been a marked escalation in erratic statements, public outbursts, deeply inappropriate personal insults, and impulsive directives that appear untethered from established facts and from prior Trump administration policy, many of which have had contrary impacts on our security and economy.

From a national security perspective, the implications are stark. Adversaries and allies alike watch our leadership’s conduct for signs of weakness and instability. A President who cannot remain awake and engaged in crisis meetings, who struggles to remember key details of briefings, or who issues contradictory orders under pressure exposes the United States to unacceptable risk. In the nuclear age and in an era of rapid, AI-accelerated conflict and disinformation, hesitation, confusion, or erratic behavior at the highest level can have irreversible consequences.

Domestically, the President’s apparent inability to perform the basic, day-to-day tasks of governance erodes public trust in a moment of growing economic crisis. Citizens are entitled to confidence that the person holding the highest office in the land is capable of understanding the laws being signed, the orders being issued, and the policies being advanced.

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment exists precisely for circumstances in which a President, by reason of physical or mental impairment, is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” It is not a tool of partisan convenience or political strategy, but a constitutional safeguard intended to preserve continuity, stability, and the rule of law when a President can no longer meet the demands of the office.

It is the belief of the undersigned that we have reached such a moment with President Trump.

We therefore respectfully and solemnly urge you, within your constitutional authority as Vice President and principal officers of the executive departments, to:

Initiate a formal, comprehensive medical and cognitive evaluation of the President by qualified, independent specialists, with full transparency to the legislative branch and the public.

Conduct an internal review of the President’s recent performance in key decision-making processes, including testimony from senior advisers, military and intelligence officials, and staff whose duties require regular direct contact with the President.

Assess, in good faith and without regard to personal or political considerations, whether the President is presently able to carry out the obligations of the office in a manner consistent with the constitutional standard.

If, following such an examination and review, you conclude that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, we urge you to give careful consideration to the procedures established by Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

We are mindful that such a step would be unprecedented in its political impact and personally painful to all involved. Yet our ultimate fidelity must be to the Constitution and to the safety and welfare of the United States, not to any single individual, however high their office.

We do not make this request lightly.

We recognize the profound gravity of even raising this question. Nevertheless, in view of the accumulating evidence of President Trump’s declining health, impaired cognition, and erratic decision-making, silence would constitute a failure of our own oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

We ask you to weigh these concerns with clear eyes and sober judgment, remembering that history will judge not only the decision reached, but the seriousness and integrity with which it was made.

Respectfully,

Senate Majority Leader John Thune
Speaker Mike Johnson
Et al

Meanwhile, in the Real World

…and this is where it all falls apart.

This is where the fantasy collapses, and the world in which we live rises and strikes down the idea of courage, integrity, or the good of the nation aside. Every American can see it. Every American, including Trump’s most passionate backers, knows his mental state and physical health are collapsing in front of the eyes of the world.

Even if Congress sent this letter, Vance and the cabinet are creatures of the same ecosystem that made Trump president. Admitting he’s unfit is, in effect, admitting they enabled a deeply sick man in mental decline to hold ultimate power. For years, they’ve sold a story: Trump is strong, sharp, chosen, blessed by God, incorruptible and puissant, persecuted by petty enemies.

To accept the letter is to blow up that narrative and concede that critics were right about his instability and unfitness. They’re more likely to argue that any signs of decline are exaggerated, partisan, or the result of media manipulation; that the President is “as vigorous as ever”; and that the real danger is “weakening the presidency” by empowering unelected elites. In other words, they reject the letter to protect the myth, because the myth is the foundation of their power.

That’s a career-ending confession in a movement built on loyalty and dominance. They know that invoking the 25th would mean instant exile from the base, loss of future office, donors, media platforms, and any hope of influence in MAGA world.

The safer play, from their narrow self-interest, is to pretend everything is fine, downplay the decline, and ride it out. “He’ll be gone soon enough,” they whisper in the dark, “And then I’ll be the heir apparent. Best to say nothing until the funeral.”

Even if they privately agreed with every word of the letter, they would see a Section 4 move as lighting a match in a dry forest. Trump’s base would treat it as a coup by “traitors” inside the regime. That means the usual and highly effective threats, violence, and a permanent split MAGA media machine that keeps them in power.

From their perspective, the 25th isn’t just a constitutional mechanism; it’s a trigger for a legitimacy crisis they don’t believe they can control.

They ought to because it would be for the good of the nation. When Trump dies in office, everything will come out. Aides will race for book deals to reveal absolutely everything about the end stages of his life, and it will be hideous.

Everyone who helped cover this up, from the lowest member of Congress to J.D. Vance will take an absolutely hideous beating over hiding the danger Trump’s mental rot posed. Everyone.

“We were waiting for someone, anyone to take action,” they’ll say without a blink of self-awareness, “But no one ever even asked.”