There Is No Method to Trump’s Madness. He’s Simply Insane.

Adding the most fuel to the fire, perhaps, is Trump’s right-hand man—yet another angry megalomaniac who suffers delusions of grandeur (and grand delusions). Elon Musk’s rage toward Democrats may stem in part from a perceived snub by the White House under the Biden administration, when Musk wasn’t invited to an electric vehicle event (though he had also, of course, grown tired of what he saw as interference from federal regulators in his businesses). These days, Musk competes with Trump on a near-daily basis for the title of Most Batshit Social Media Post. Last month, he tweeted that the journalists at 60 Minutes “deserve a long prison sentence” for the crime of editing an interview with Kamala Harris. The other day, he retweeted a post blaming “public sector workers” for millions of deaths under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. (As it happens, Musk’s own policies as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency are causing people to die around the world.)

Some of you might argue that Trump isn’t mad, but just a psychopath feigning madness for his own ends. Or perhaps his ludicrous assertions began as convenient foils and have morphed into true delusions. After all, he’s had plenty of people telling him he’s right. Perhaps there’s a more accurate Shakespearean comparison, then. King Lear has a deep hole in him that constantly has to be filled: He insists that his three daughters publicly fawn over him to gain his graces and dismisses his most beloved daughter, Cordelia, when she refuses to engage in the practice. He cannot accept the errors of his ways. Yet Lear somehow retains his hold on power even as his hold on reality slips away, until ultimately he meets his demise and causes the death of all who are dear to him.

We are in a Shakespearean moment right now. Journalists are trying to understand Trump’s irrational behavior, and are generally unwilling to consider the possibility that it is not some grand strategy but just a sign of a madman with increasingly diminished mental faculties. Perhaps he’s not quite yet burying steaks to grow meat trees, like George III, but Trump’s delusions cause considerably more damage than that. Are we going to wait until he’s ranting about “drainage” like Daniel Plainview and beating someone to death with a bowling pin? Are we going to continue to bend over backward to pretend that this emperor isn’t naked?