Tuesday Talk*: Is Impulse Control A Presidential Problem?

Upon learning that Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were murdered, President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, immediately reacted by posting on Truth Social.

Needless to say, the Reiner’s murder had nothing to do with Trump. It had nothing to do with TDS. It had nothing to do with driving “people CRAZY” with his “raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump,” curiously written in the third person. But the impetuous Trump couldn’t wait until there was more information and, instead, leapt to the assumption that Reiner’s murder was all about him.

Aside from the hardest core Trump apologists, this reaction was condemned as being too vile, too disgraceful, even for Trump. Even so, supporters like Christopher Rufo offered a rationalization to circumvent the problem of Trump’s impulsive narcissism.

Trump’s Rob Reiner tweet is awful, but this tic is baked into his personality and no amount of media outrage will change it, so most of the intellectuals on the Right will simply ignore it and focus on policy, which is a sensible course of action. This is the Dao of Trumpism.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) December 15, 2025

To trivialize a president’s public statement as a mere “tic” is quite a stretch, but Rufo’s point, that “the Right will simply ignore it” is likely correct. Even those who thought Trump’s impulsive reaction awful, or worse than awful, won’t abandon him and will find some way to compartmentalize whatever drove him to write such a vile and narcissistic screed and distinguish it from the “policy.” to the extent Trump has any actual policy.

What this fails to consider, however, is that this is the guy with his finger on the button, whether it’s the button to bomb boats on the high seas, now up to 95 murders, or impose tariffs against nations that fail to be sufficiently obsequious or don’t treat his buddies the way he would like.

Now that it’s become brutally clear that Trump has no control over his worst impulses, and no one in the White House willing to talk him off the ledge when his gut reaction is to shoot protesters in the legs, can he still be trusted to exercise the increasingly awesome power of the office?

It would be one thing if Trump put thought into his decisions, good or bad as they may be. Sure, you might disagree with what he does, but he was elected president and the nature of democracy is that the will of the people be effectuated, good and hard as Mencken said. But what about purely impulsive actions and reactions, the ones into which no thought, no reason, are put? While the MAGA faithful may respond, “I voted for this,” the vast majority of Americans did not elect a president to do whatever insanely idiotic nonsense pops into his head in the middle of the night without information, deliberation or forethought.

Trump’s reaction to the murders of Rob and Michelle Reiner was absolutely disgusting, but beyond that, reflect his complete lack of impulse control. Trump isn’t just some rando spewing whatever hatred pops into his head, but the President of the United States with the power to destroy, demolish, harm and even kill. Can these powers be left in the hands of someone who cannot control his worst impulses?

*Tuesday Talk rules apply.