As his war with Iran rages on, Trump is acting like a madman

This is an adapted excerpt from the April 14 episode of “All In with Chris Hayes.”

Donald Trump is a profoundly unwell man. Now, if you are a regular viewer of “All In,” you have probably heard me make some variation of that argument for over a decade. But even by the degraded standard we are used to, it has become clear that he has taken a turn for the worse.  

This week, The New York Times published a lengthy article on the president’s mental state, highlighting Trump’s “erratic behavior and extreme comments in recent days,” noting his words and actions “have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power.” 

Now, we all knew this well before the Times published that piece — because we are living it. 

One Trump voter called the president’s post “appalling” and said he was “mocking my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Most recently, Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ healing the sick. The image sparked outrage among the more than 2 billion Christians worldwide, including many members of Trump’s own base, such as Megyn Kelly, who called the post “blasphemous” and “completely inappropriate.”

But it was not just MAGA hosts, MS NOW reporter Alex Tabet heard something similar from voters in deep-red Bradenton, Florida. One person told Tabet he was “ashamed” that the man he voted for “would actually do that.” Another called it “appalling,” saying Trump was “mocking my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

Eventually, the outrage reached a level where Trump was actually forced to back down. He deleted the post, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) the off-ramp he chose was lying. Trump told reporters he thought the image depicted him as a doctor.

“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor,” he said. “Making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

You’ve seen the photo: Trump, in a white robe, healing the sick with his glowing touch. You can decide for yourself what it looks like. But that is how the president of the United States spent the start of his week.

AI Image of Donald Trump depicted as Jesus healing people.

Of course, the larger context here is important. Trump’s post came amid a series of bizarre, self-pitying attacks against Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff. Over the weekend, the president went on a social media tirade against the pope, writing, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” (Begrudgingly, credit where it’s due: Calling the pope “weak on crime” is one of the absolute funniest things he’s ever said.) But Trump also took credit for Leo’s papacy, writing, “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

This one-sided feud stemmed from the fact that Leo has been very critical of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Iran: A war of choice that has killed thousands of people and left more than a million displaced throughout the region.

That position is, of course, entirely consistent with Catholic doctrine, and it is not unique to this particular pope. His predecessor, Pope Francis, was very outspoken about the war on Gaza, and Pope John Paul II lobbied against the Iraq War in 2003.

But Trump has decided that Leo’s prayers for peace are a personal attack on him. The president’s social media platform is even running what it calls a “featured ad” that’s pushing the question, “Do you support Trump against Pope?” 

Amid all this, Leo has done his best to stay above the fray.

“I do not look at my role as being political,” he told reporters earlier this week, adding that he didn’t want to “get into a debate” with Trump but vowed to “continue to speak out loudly against war.”

European leaders are already working on a plan to get the strait reopened without the U.S., because our president apparently cannot be trusted to act rationally.

It should not go unsaid that the criticism of how Trump has handled the war he launched with Israel against Iran is entirely rational. He seemingly has little desire to stop the carnage. His most recent plan was to send Vice President JD Vance (himself a Catholic convert) to negotiate a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to American ships, but that failed spectacularly.

Somewhat understandably, Iran was unwilling to negotiate with an administration that just a few days before threatened genocide against its entire population, with Trump warning of total civilizational destruction on social media. When those negotiations failed, the president decided his new strategy would be for the U.S. to blockade the Strait of Hormuz ourselves and stop ships from entering and departing Iranian ports. 

It’s a plan that makes absolutely no sense. Our foreign allies have come to the same conclusion. European leaders are already working on a plan to reopen the strait without the U.S., because our president apparently cannot be trusted to act rationally.

Even some of the president’s most ardent supporters, such as former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Infowars host Alex Jones, have expressed support for removing Trump from office through the 25th Amendment. On Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D- Md., introduced legislation aimed at beginning that process.

While this is just a messaging bill with little chance of becoming law, it highlights the real, tangible danger of having a wartime president who acts like a madman.

Allison Detzel contributed.

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