Posted by Alumni from The Atlantic
April 15, 2026
On many recent nights, Donald Trump has been posting obsessively on his Truth Social site into the wee hours. The president, of course, has never been one for a solid night's sleep'or restrained and temperate commentary on social media'but his emotional state seems to be fraying: This weekend, he attacked Pope Leo XIV, presented himself as Jesus Christ, and then jabbed at his phone until dawn. Judging from those posts, the commander in chief is in distress. No one can say for sure what is causing the president's bizarre behavior. Perhaps Trump's narcissistic insistence that he is always successful in everything he undertakes is feeling the sting and strain of multiple public failures, including the collapse of his campaign to dislodge the Iranian regime, plummeting approval ratings, the decline of the U.S. economy, and, on Sunday, the crushing defeat of one of his favorite fellow authoritarians, Hungary's Viktor Orban. But whatever is driving this decline in Trump's self-control,... learn more