José Angel Gutiérrez ● The Madman Theory ● Our Voices/Nuestras Voces

The Madman Theory

José Angel Gutiérrez

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The New York Review of Books for May 14th , but out already, has a fascinating article by Fintan O’Toole on Trump and other presidents and their mental state. O’Toole has made me change my mind on calling Trump TACO the Dumbo and rethink my opinions on various other presidents. The national media began calling Trump TACO, as an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out, and Dumbo for appearing and sounding really dumb many a time. Just last April 30th, at a press conference he answered a question about the state of the war in Iran. He began his diatribe with “The war in Ukraine is over. We won. They have no Navy. They have no Air Force….” and more nonsense. He got his wars wrong. This is on the same day he had just gotten a briefing on what new options there were to end the war in Iran. Is he dumb, confused, irrational, bipolar or just overwhelmed with the enormity of the president’s job? Is he just a crazy, mad man nearing 80 years of age? The world cringed when he posted that Iran would be entirely obliterated.

O’Toole provided several insights into this mad man posture. He attribute the Mad Man Theory to Richard Nixon who first articulated this notion that acting crazy is a rational strategy. Allegedly, Nixon told his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, “I want the North Vietnamese to believe I’ve reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war.” He told Bob Haldeman, “I call it the Madman Theory.” On another occasion, Henry Kissinger while giving a lecture in Peshawar in 1962, told the audience “A madman holding a hand grenade in his hand has a very great bargaining advantage.” Was Nixon the architect of the Mad Man Theory or did Kissinger instill that on him? We will never know.

Trump supposedly learned this fake behavior from a man named Irving he hired as manager of his first housing project. The anecdote is printed in Trump’s ghostwritten book, The Art of the Deal. Irving had many faults but one saving grace, he had “an incredible mouth” he used when he went to collect rents. He would rant, rave, “get red in the race, use every filthy word he could think of and make every threat in the book. It was an act, but it was very effective.” He always collect the rent due. William Barr, Trump’s Attorney General at one point, repeats that when discussing the various post and tweets the Trump revels in doing daily, he explained their purpose by posing a question and answer, “Do you know what the secret is of a really good tweet?” Then added, “Just the right amount of crazy.” Trump instructed Nikki Haley, who was his UN Ambassador at one time and dealing with the North Koreans., “Tell them you just talked to the president….Make them think I’m crazy.” . O‘Toole adds another example of Trump using the Mad Man Theory when discussing strategy with his trade representative at the time, Robert Lighthizer. He was negotiating with the South Koreans and suggested they give them 30 days to agree to terms. Trump rebuked him with “No, no, no, That’ s not how you negotiates. You don’t tell them they’ve got 30 days. You tell them, ‘This guy’s so crazy he could pull out any minute.’” In 2024, Trump told The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board that he wouldn’t have to use military force against China to prevent a blockade of Taiwan, because President Xi “respects me and he knows I’m f----- crazy.”

Trump also behaved irrationally with staff. Former Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham narrated some episodes of rage, rant and rave, aimed at staffers in her book I’ll Take Your Question Now. Grisham wrote that Trump called Jerone Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank, “a dirty bastard, that motherfucker.” Joint Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, thought and said, “Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the 2020 election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and construction his own alternative reality, about endless election conspiracies.” Trump regularly insults and degrades journalists for their questions.

Approaching status as a lame duck president, Trump continues to use the Mad Man Theory and even jokes about it. The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution allows for removal of the president under certain conditions such as mental state. In last March during a Cabinet meeting Trump joked when a serious question was posed, “I can’t say what we are going to do, because if I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here for long. They’d probably….what is it called? The 25th Amendment?”

Whether you agree or not with the Mad Man Theory, it is a most dangerous time for us all and the world. Trump will continue his strategy of madness toward totalitarianism and end our US version of democracy. To be sure, he is a total narcissist in love with himself. He lies, he defames, he cheats and steals before our very eyes. He is an abuser of women and been found guilty of rape and abuse by a jury. His cult of delusionists, however, will continue to eulogize him as the greatest president of all time. All semblance of a balance power continues to erode. We, the people, are no longer able to stop this madness. Hopefully, the midterm elections will change this direction. But who is to say we will not have a repeat of January 6, 2021?.