‘Donald Trump, Like Hitler, is a Psychopath’

Many Cannot Imagine, Let Alone Recognize, the Most Dangerous Disorder Known to Psychiatry

· “Strength lies not in defense but in attack.”

· “I cannot be mistaken—what I say and do is historical.”

· “The masses are more likely to believe a big lie than a little one.”

The above three statements, states retired Harvard Medical School assistant clinical professor and coauthor of our new book, The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, Dr. Lance Dodes:

were made not by Donald Trump but by Adolf Hitler, yet they uncannily describe Trump’s pathological behavior, thinking, and attitude toward others:… As Trump has shown numerous times when he is questioned, rather than having a rational response, he insults and mocks those who dare to challenge him. He has never acknowledged mistakes; indeed, he has repeatedly described himself as godlike. He has told enormous lies over and over,… with the intention that by repetition, he will fool the people into believing him.

And fool he did, to the point where we handed him the U.S. presidency, a second time. Dodes continues:

In the first edition of [The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump], I wrote a chapter titled, “Sociopathy”, to describe the many reasons Donald Trump fits the definition of a sociopath…. Now, with the evidence of more years of his criminality, his incredible and continuous lying, his absence of empathy (incapacity for concern for anyone but himself), and, currently, his willingness to sacrifice democracy and the freedom of the people for his own benefit, there are enough data to confirm that Trump exhibits the most severe traits associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder—that he is a psychopath. This is by far the most dangerous of all mental disorders, since it is the only psychological condition in which behaving in a morally reprehensible way is an essential part of its nature.

Many are completely unaware of the most dangerous mental disorder known to psychiatry, which is therefore multifold less likely to be prosecuted and multifold more likely to get out of prison early—even though those who have it are far more dangerous and far more likely to repeat their crimes than those without it. The public is therefore maximally vulnerable to individuals with psychopathy, who not only wear a “mask of sanity” but manipulate others into believing that they are the most ideal candidate for any task or job, as they are master con men (sometimes women). It is therefore an important disorder to consider, during this exceptional National Safety Month, as we are facing extraordinary threats to the safety of all humankind.

Dodes, as training analyst emeritus at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, wrote many academic articles and book chapters on addiction, as well as three books: The Heart of Addiction; Breaking Addiction; and The Sober Truth. He was honored by Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addictions and was elected distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. He is an original author of the 2017 Dangerous Case of Donald Trump and a multi-episode contributor to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell show. He explains:

Psychopaths intentionally create harm to others without guilt or remorse, for personal gain or self-gratification. That gratification often includes the sadistic pleasure of wreaking revenge against imagined enemies. Psychopaths cannot be reasoned out of their beliefs or their behavior, because they are unable to comprehend that others have value, or the concept of questioning themselves. The fact that Donald Trump has this most dangerous form of Antisocial Personality Disorder has two long-term consequences: It means that he is never going to stop intentionally harming others for his personal benefit, and it means that he will become worse over time.

With his use of the Big Lie technique, attacks on minorities and immigrants, and claims that only he can save America, Trump has shown that he is following the very same plan as Hitler and other truly evil dictators in human history.

One of the characteristics of these tyrants is something that distinguishes psychopaths from sociopaths. Beyond lawbreaking, lying, cheating, and the absence of conscience, psychopaths are known for their long-term planning to intentionally harm others. Trump’s conviction on multiple counts of fraud, his inciting violence toward political opponents and officers of the courts, and his plan to violently overthrow the government of the United States on January 6, 2021, show the planned, intentional, criminal nature of his thinking. Like the abhorrent tyrants of the past, he is willing for other people to be denied their rights in order for him to have power, and he is eager to vengefully abuse people when it suits his purposes.

This is one of the reasons why we begin our new book, The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 50 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Warn Anew, with a critical warning of his danger to our nation, which was issued following our National Press Club conference: “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership,” held just weeks before the 2024 presidential election. Ordinary laypersons have difficulty imagining a human being without normal human characteristics, as Dodes explains:

Trump’s absence of concern for others, and longstanding efforts to control and sadistically attack others, set him apart from normal human beings. What we often admire about ourselves as a species is our ability to care for and about one another, come to the aid of our fellow human, and join in shared efforts to help all of us…. But the power of conscience-free manipulation, coupled with the Big Lie technique, has, many times in human history, proven to overcome people’s normal self-preservation when practiced by a convincing psychopath. This happened to the people of Germany in the 1930’s when they surrendered a vibrant democracy to the lies and false promises of their psychopath. Now, the people of America are at risk of repeating this tragedy.

Trump’s [psychopathy] is why he threatens, hurts, debases, and attempts to control others for his own benefit, and why he will never change but, instead, will become worse the more power he can seize. Trump is America’s Hitler because Trump and Hitler are not only both psychopaths, but Trump has intentionally followed Hitler’s plan of endless repetition of Big Lies such as that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him. He has repeatedly threatened and criminally acted his way to power through violence and attempts to corrupt the nation’s legal and electoral systems. Like other historic scourges of humanity, Trump has shown that he falls far beneath the hallmark of mutual caring that makes us human.

Announcement:

Dr. Bandy X. Lee is holding weekly live sessions on:

“Special Topics in One World or None”

The next session will be this Friday, June 27, 2025, at 12 noon EDT/9 a.m. PDT on Zoom. A paid subscription is required to receive a link the morning before. Thank you!

Dr. Lee is a forensic and social psychiatrist who became known to the public through her 2017 Yale conference and book that emphasized the importance of fit leadership. In 2019, she organized a major National Press Club Conference on the theme of, “The Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” In 2024, she followed up with another major Conference, “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” She published another book on fit leadership that has been recently expanded, in addition to a volume on how unfitness in a leader spreads and two critical statements on fit leadership. Dr. Lee warned that journalists and intellectuals are the first to be suppressed in times of unfit leadership, and it is happening here; she continues, however, to be interviewed or covered abroad, such as in France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Canada (with notable articles in Estonian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Korean). She authored the internationally-acclaimed textbook, Violence; over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters; and 17 scholarly books and journal special issues, in addition to over 300 opinion editorials. Dr. Lee is also a master of divinity, currently developing a new curriculum for public education on “One World or None.”