1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Invoke the 25th Amendment—Trump’s Cognitive Decline Is a National Emergency To ensure the U.S. is led by a coherent, functioning President, the 25th Amendment outlines a process to transfer power if the President is physically or mentally incapacitated. We must now take this seriously. Trump’s recent tariff debacle—marked by incoherent flip-flops and economic chaos—is just the latest, clearest sign of his cognitive decline. Mental health professionals have long raised the alarm. Trump has refused to release his medical records, prompting credible experts to act. Dr. John Gartner, a former Johns Hopkins Medical School faculty member, describes “progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, behavior, and speech,” all consistent with dementia. He and over 3,000 other mental health professionals have signed a petition urging the public and lawmakers to act. Gartner notes Trump’s loss of coherent speech, bizarre tangents, and misuse of words—like calling “missiles” “mishiz,” and referring to the “oranges” of a situation. These are classic signs of neurodegenerative decline. Dr. Suzanne Lachmann adds that Trump frequently forgets how sentences begin, invents the middle, and delivers jumbled “word salads.” The New York Times and Newsweek have published serious reports documenting his language deterioration, increased use of profanity, and confusion of people and generations—like repeatedly saying he’s running against Obama, or mistaking Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi. The Dementia Society of America states that forgetting names is normal aging—but confusing people and timelines is not. Trump’s decline has gone from anecdotal to dangerously obvious. Worse, Trump alone holds the nuclear codes. He already inflicted global damage with his reckless tariffs. His mental state poses an escalating threat to national and global security. That’s why The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, authored by 37 mental health professionals, sounded the alarm during his first term. Their duty to warn has now become Congress’s duty to act. Section 4 of the 25th Amendment provides a legal mechanism to remove a president who is no longer fit to discharge the duties of office. Congress must immediately begin proceedings to assess Trump’s capacity. Democrats need to act. Republicans must put country before party. Before another disaster—or a world-ending blunder—occurs, we must safeguard our democracy and the planet. Use your authority. Invoke the 25th.