Trump has obviously struggled with sleep several times.Image: keystone
analysis
Every day there are new speculations about the strange behavior of the US President.
Dec 5, 2025, 4:39 p.mDec 5, 2025, 4:39 p.m
Recently, Donald Trump made 160 posts on Truth Social in one evening, one every two minutes. “He must have sat on the toilet for a long time,” joked comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The next day, the president called a cabinet meeting at which, like Kim Jong-un, he was praised in the worst kind of slime. But instead of showing joy, Trump fell asleep several times.
There is no doubt that Donald Trump’s already unusual behavior is becoming increasingly confusing. That’s why speculation about his mental and health condition is rampant. Some want to have already discovered signs of dementia, others want to know that his malignant narcissism is becoming more and more pathological.
Sharp tongue: The journalist Michael Wolff.Image: EPA/EFE
Journalist Michael Wolff brings a new interpretation into play. In a podcast with the Daily Beast news portal, he put forward the theory that Trump’s behavior could be explained quite simply: the man is bored.
Michael Wolff has already written four books about Trump. They read fluently, but their truthfulness is controversial. What is undisputed, however, is that he has good connections to the White House.
There is a lot to be said for Wolff’s thesis. Trump has had some wild times: he survived two assassination attempts and then made a spectacular political comeback. In his second term, which is less than a year old, he has clashed almost daily with universities, the media, judges and the Democrats in his own country. That didn’t stop him from reorganizing world trade with punitive tariffs and falling out with almost all of his traditional allies.
So it’s the end of a crazy yet exciting year for Trump, a year that provided plenty of fodder for his insatiable narcissism. But that’s the thing with narcissism. In order to satisfy him, you have to resort to harder and harder stuff – like a junkie.
The exact opposite is happening with Trump. He has to worry about more and more mundane things, things that are neither glamorous nor in the least interesting to him or even fun for him. Things like:
- The “affordability” crisis: For the majority of his voters, this is the president’s most urgent task, after all, during the election campaign he promised to lower the prices of gasoline and food on the first day. He has not succeeded, and there is little to suggest that he will succeed soon. But unfortunately, this time Trump’s all-purpose medicine has no effect. This time he can’t convince even his base with the usual excuses that the “affordability” crisis is fake news, an invention of the Democrats or a “bad joke.” MAGA supporters also know how much they have to pay for beef, coffee, gas and rent.
- The same applies to the Epstein crisis. Although Trump and his lackeys in Congress have done everything they can to get rid of it, it keeps popping up again at regular intervals. It will soon be that time again, because the Justice Department has been required by law to release the Epstein files before Christmas.
- Trump has achieved success with the ceasefire in the Middle East. However, it is questionable whether this ceasefire will lead to lasting peace. In the case of Ukraine, Trump is failing because of Putin, resistance within his own party and the incompetence of his special envoy Steve Witkoff.
- The drug campaign against Venezuela, intended as a show of force, is about to become a blot on the American military. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s clumsy actions are increasingly becoming a liability for the president.
Even the embarrassing slimy behavior of his cabinet is no longer enough to satisfy the president’s insatiable desire for recognition, especially since he at least suspects that many of the ridiculous compliments are not really meant seriously. In addition, such submissive behavior can only be expected from people who have either a character or a competency problem. Both are obviously the case with Defense Secretary Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel and Interior Secretary Kristi Noem.
In need: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.Image: keystone
Trump is therefore looking for distraction, and is encountering resistance himself. So he fell out with the architect of his ballroom because he no longer wanted to be responsible for the increasingly monstrous project. The president initially wanted to close the “Institute of Peace”. However, when those responsible renamed it the “Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace,” he was suddenly hooked. For everyone else, however, this is just “cringe,” as today’s youth would put it.
Given the behavior of his military in the Caribbean Sea, Trump will probably have to give up his desire for the Nobel Peace Prize. The fact that FIFA, of all companies, is awarding him a pseudo-award is probably little consolation.
All distractions do not change the fact that Trump is in a serious crisis. “He is unpopular, a lame duck, and has to take a beating from all sides,” says New York Times columnist Michelle Cottle. There is no improvement in sight: “We are witnessing the beginning of a new political season for Mr. Trump,” said Cottle. “If there is no strategic turnaround, it will be very unpleasant for him.”