Donald Trump's 'uncontrollable' behaviour in court 'consistent with dementia' symptoms

Donald Trump's 'ability to maintain basic functions' in court has raised questions, with one psychologist linking the former president's behaviour to symptoms of dementia.

As Trump attends his hush money trial, he has consistently exemplified behaviours "consistent with a diagnosis of dementia," claims a psychologist.

Journalists in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse have observed that on five out of seven recent court appearances, Trump was caught nodding off periodically at the defence table, despite his lawyers' attempts to keep him alert, the Mirror reports.

Speaking to The Mirror, Dr. John Gartner stated: "He can't control it. To uncontrollably fall asleep during the day is something that's very common among patients with dementia."

Dr Gartner, who taught psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School for 28 years, considered Trump's sleeping episodes in court as highly unusual and in need of an explanation.

Given that Trump is the accused in this case, Dr Gartner pointed out that he should be full of adrenaline, which ordinarily should keep anyone awake.

He detailed: "The natural stress response of adrenaline is one that, even if we're exhausted, it gives us another boost of energy. So, anybody who's in that position, you could see why it would be so unusual for them to fall asleep."

A defendant dozing off in the dock is "literally so uncommon, it's basically unheard of", Gartner remarked.

He said he's spoken with numerous legal colleagues and found that none had ever witnessed such an occurrence throughout their careers.

He quipped: "I've fallen asleep at the opera or whatever. But he's fallen asleep five out of the seven days.

"If he did it once, you might say, 'Oh, he had a bad night' or whatever. He can't not fall asleep. That's different."

Trump is currently facing 34 felony charges for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 (£104,000) hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his presidency.

Daniels claimed she had an affair with Trump in 2006 in Nevada, which could have damaged his successful 2016 presidential campaign.

The allegation is that Trump and his team sought to prevent Daniels from going public with her story.

Court documents suggest it was Trump's former lawyer and now adversary Michael Cohen who actually made the payment to Daniels.

Gartner suspects that Trump may be experiencing a form of dementia that affects his ability to regulate his sleep-wake cycle due to brain "deterioration".

He asserted: "Literally, if his life depended on it, which it kind of does, he can't control it."

The notion is that Trump, aware of the negative perception garnered from dozing off in court, would resist such behaviour if he still had control - but he evidently can't stay awake despite his best efforts.

Garter explained: "He knows this is serious. The one thing Donald Trump fears more than anything else is to look weak or to look like a loser. He knows that falling asleep in court makes him look weak."

Trump has been frequently lambasted by his legal team for his behaviour and ended up as the subject of public ridicule.

Just a week ago, he targeted New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman who initially reported that the potential Republican presidential nominee had nodded off at the defence bench.

Nonetheless, it's Trump's courtroom napping that isn't the only conduct causing a stir. Whispers are escalating about him regularly breaking wind, with several such instances happening daily.

Whether Trump is indeed guilty of continually passing gas remains unconfirmed; however, US late-night comedy shows, including those presented by Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel, have spoken about these supposed farts and haven't resisted poking fun at them amid the flurry of online chatter.

Gather said: "This thing about the farting - obviously, it was a big joke on Twitter and late-night comedy and whatnot, but again, we really have to put these things into clinical context. This means something.

"He seems to be losing control of basic biological functions right in front of our eyes."

Gartner highlighted that both the napping and the farting are "consistent with a diagnosis of dementia" because both "would suggest that he's losing control over his basic bodily functions - sleep, wake, excretion."

Moreover, Gartner warned that these incidents are expected to escalate as dementia is a progressive condition and "not something that somebody can control" or cure.

Although sometimes it can be managed with appropriate treatment, he cautioned: "It's gonna keep exposing itself in more and more uncontrollable ways, in more and more unconcealable ways," implying this could have adverse implications for Trump.

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