Demented Trump could end the world. Here's how we can save it
Most Americans probably don’t know that the U.S. President has the absolute legal power to launch a potentially humanity-ending nuclear first strike against anyone anywhere at any moment without the permission or even advice of anyone at all — not Congress, not military leaders, not his cabinet, not anyone else.
An angry, impulsive or simply demented President could initiate the destruction of human life on earth with no legal constraints. If that doesn’t worry you, it should.
We came close to nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis under President Kennedy. President Reagan’s son Ron believes that the President suffered from dementia during the final year of his term. Many question whether President Biden was fully mentally competent during the last months of his term.
But Donald Trump’s diminished mental state increases the danger he might impulsively order a civilization-ending nuclear strike all by himself. He appears to have moved from just being a narcissistic, power hungry, ignorant bully to having dementia.
Could Trump get so angry at another world leader like the Prime Minister of Norway or Switzerland that he would order not just the annexation of Greenland or high tariffs on Swiss Chocolate but a nuclear strike? I don’t know how likely that is, even for Trump, but it’s no longer unthinkable.
The unilateral power for any President to launch a nuclear first strike must be legally curtailed and the power to remove a mentally disabled President from office must be strengthened. Neither Republicans nor Democrats should want one person alone to have to power to order the destruction of humanity.
Outlaw a nuclear first strike
Congress must pass a bill outlawing the first use of nuclear weapons. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MS) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) have introduced the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act multiple times since 2017, most recently in January 2025 with 26 co-sponsors in the House and seven in the Senate. The bill was referred to committee, where no discussion or hearings have been held.
A “No First Use” statute could be short and sweet:
“(a) It shall be the policy of the United States that nuclear weapons may only be used in direct retaliation for a nuclear attack against the United States or its allies. (b) The President shall not authorize, order, or direct the non-retaliatory use of nuclear weapons. (c) No member of the Armed Forces shall execute, implement, or otherwise carry out an order for such use.”
This is something both parties should support. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you should not want one person alone to launch a civilization-ending nuclear war.
Make the 25th Amendment practical
For most of American history, there was no constitutional means to remove a mentally or physically disabled President other than the high bar of impeachment. Following President Kennedy’s assassination, the 25th Amendment was enacted to set up a constitutional procedure to transfer presidential powers.
Under Section 4, the President may be removed and replaced by the Vice President if the President cannot perform his duties for any reason including mental incapacity such as cognitive or psychological impairment.
If the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet send a written declaration to Congress that the President cannot discharge his duties, the Vice President immediately becomes Acting President.
If the President disagrees in writing, the Cabinet and Vice President have 4 days to respond. If within 21 days two-thirds of both the Senate and House approves, the Vice President remains President. If not, the original President is restored to office.
But the 25th Amendment is badly flawed. Among other things, the cabinet members have been appointed by the President and are unlikely to revoke his powers. And if they were to consider it, the President could simply fire them before they voted.
That’s why the drafters of the 25th Amendment included an alternative mechanism: Congress may pass a law designating another body other than the Cabinet to determine the President’s fitness for office
In 2020, to implement the intent of the 25th Amendment, the House passed “The Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office Act,” authored by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). The bill did not target any specific President. It would have set up a 17-member bipartisan panel of physicians and former executive branch officers to evaluate the President’s fitness for office. To prevent partisanship, half the members would be appointed by Republicans and half by Democrats. While it passed the House, the bill did not pass the Senate.
Under present circumstances, it’s time to modernize and enact the bill. The republic should not have to improvise during a Presidential medical emergency or cognitive decline.
Conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote several years ago that:
Regardless of your partisan leanings, it’s time to act to limit the President’s unilateral power to launch a nuclear first strike and to use the 25th Amendment to remove a mentally impaired President.
In that event, J.D. Vance would become President, which shouldn’t bother Republicans. And for Democrats, it would still be better than allowing a mentally declining Trump to remain in power, even if Vance’s values are as reactionary as Trump’s.
And even if it doesn’t pass, it would put the issue of the President’s mental health and the danger of a unilateral nuclear first strike front and center.
Outlawing the President’s unilateral first nuclear strike right could even become one of the demands of a contemplated general strike.
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