Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
Under Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) 702 and 703, for evidentiary purposes at trial, lay people ordinarily cannot not offer medical, mental health or psychiatric opinions.[i] These sorts of opinions must be based upon expert testimony.[ii]
That said, however, there are certain human behaviors and conditions that, under Federal Rule of Evidence 701, a competent layperson may provide opinions on certain subjects expressly permitted by rule, statute, or case law. This sort of opinion testimony must be based upon the witness’ perceptions, personal observations, and must result from firsthand knowledge. In these circumstances the court may allow a lay witness to testify as to: a person’s identity; a person’s sanity; a person’s state of mind, demeanor, mood, or intent; the identification of handwriting; a person’s intoxication or sobriety; property ownership; a person’s health, sickness, or injury; a person’s mental condition; speed, distance, and size; and; the value of a witness’s property.[iii]
By way of example how this works, Wilbur Smith, ordinary citizen, may testify that he saw John Doe standing on the street corner, wearing a tinfoil hat, waving a toy lightsaber, and screaming that the pigeons were disguised aliens attacking the city. Based on what he observed, Smith may testify that Doe was acting crazy, out of his mind, and that he appeared to be mentally ill. Smith, however, may not testify that Doe was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia; that opinion requires the testimony of an expert such as an examining psychiatrist or other professional person.
And, that brings up another rule that plays into all this—the Goldwater Rule: The American Psychiatric Association maintains a traditional rule that prohibits members from diagnosing public figures without a personal examination. To avoid this rule, doctors commenting on the mental status of public figures argue that they are not making a definitive personal diagnosis, but are instead providing a behavioral “dangerousness assessment”.[iv]
So, to sum up, each of us ordinary citizens, based on our personal observations, can offer our own opinions and conclusions about a number of human behaviors and conditions, including another person’s sanity, state of mind, and mental condition. Unless we’re trained mental health experts, we can’t offer opinions or conclusions on any disease or condition that might cause another’s person sanity, state of mind or mental condition. In short, at least under the referenced evidentiary rules, the vast majority of us are observers and reporters, not examining diagnosticians.
All of that brings us to President Donald J. Trump’s mental status. Because, from the beginning of his first term, he displayed temperament, decision-making, and behaviors so at odds with what was considered as presidential norms and conduct, members of the public, the press and Congress questioned Mr. Trump’s mental health and his fitness to serve as President. In fact, in April of 2017, 28 members of Congress introduced legislation seeking to use the 25th Amendment to allow for a formal, nonpartisan determination of Mr. Trump’s mental fitness to serve.
Aside from the input from mental health experts there continued to be, and continues now, public discussion of diagnosable conditions that might be affecting the President’s mental health. It has been widely accepted that, despite the Goldwater rule, at a minimum, the President suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.[v]
Indeed, in their book The Much More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump:[vi] 40 non-examining psychiatrists and mental health experts catalog Mr. Trump’s cognitive deficits and mental health aberrations These include, according to the World Mental Health Coalition’s (WMHC) website, the following “Objectively observable signs of serious medical concern:”
+ Marked deterioration in cognitive functioning, evidenced by disorganized and tangential speech, rambling digressions, factual confusions, unexplained sudden changes of course in strategic matters, both national and international, episodes of apparent somnolence during critical public proceedings.
+ Grandiose and delusional beliefs, including assertions of infallibility, imagery of himself as Pope suggestive of a divine mission, being a mythical warrior hero, depicting himself as combat pilot—dropping feces on civilians, and claims that his decision-making authority is unlimited—with no need to consider domestic and international laws and constrained only by his “own morality.”
+ Severely impaired judgment and impulse control, reflected in reckless threats of violence, advocacy of lethal force against civilians, encouragement of extrajudicial actions by armed supporters, repeated threats and often actions—judicial, prosecutorial, police, military, and by invoking emergency powers—against political opponents and others who disagree with him.
+ Significant loss of self-control (disinhibition) and getting stuck on the same thoughts or actions, unable to let go or move on (perseveration), including seemingly compulsive, manic-like late-night communications—e.g., 150 social media posts in one night—fixation on perceived enemies, persecutory ideas, and prolonged, disproportionate attacks on specific individuals and institutions.
+ Escalating violence that threatens national and global stability. As Commander-in-Chief of our military—more than 5000 nuclear warheads in inter-continental missile silos, on submarines, and in bombers around the world, are ready for launch solely upon his order, and no one now has the authority to countermand his order.
Again, according to WHMC website, the conclusion of these professionals is chilling:
It is our professional opinion that the behaviors of Donald Trump, tragically, are neither momentary lapses nor political theater. It is our professional opinion that they reflect a rapidly worsening, reality-untethered, increasingly dangerous decline. If we were called upon under the 25th Amendment to judge the President’s present ability to discharge the duties of his office, we would have to conclude that he lacks the capacity to do so. For the reasons cited above, emphasizing that he presents a clear and present danger to our country and to the world, it is our expert opinion that Donald J. Trump is mentally unfit to be the President of the United States, and that steps to remove him from office must be undertaken with the greatest urgency, with vital responsibilities on the shoulders of those in positions of leadership.
We can add to the above Mr. Trump going to war with Iran without Congressional authorization and with a direct military and defense cost to the American public of between $80 and $100 billion dollars and indirect economic cost (e.g. energy and groceries) of $132 billion (about $1,100 per household). And to accomplish what? The Strait of Hormuz is on again/off again closed, increasing the cost of gasoline and diesel, and the US is in a worse position with Iran now than it was under 2015 agreement with Iran that was negotiated by the Obama administration, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA (an agreement which Mr. Trump tore up). [vii]
While one could describe example upon example of Mr. Trump’s mental and cognitive failures[viii], suffice to say that following the news, social media, and viewing the President’s daily behavior, speech, decisions, and performance, each of us ordinary citizens can form an opinion as to his sanity, state of mind, and mental condition—irrespective of what actual illness, disease or condition, if any, that underlies these.
And Mr. Trump’s mental state is not improving; it seems to be getting worse. Congress must find the courage act. No other president in modern history as acted as President Trump has.
Long story short, if you ordinary citizens conclude Mr. Trump is mentally unbalanced, you’re probably right: He is.
Notes.
[i] https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_701
[ii] https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_702: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_703
[iii] https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-procedure/the-lay-opinion-rule.html
[iv] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/goldwater-rule
[v] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/goldwater-rule
[vi] Published in 2025 by the World Mental Health Coalition; https://worldmhc.org/ Available in bookstores and by on-line book sellers.
[vii] https://www.cfr.org/articles/was-it-worth-it-the-true-cost-of-trumps-iran-war; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/19/barack-obama-us-is-worse-off-war-with-iran; https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQhVNdCqznghPGjrZzkCXQxCtdL
[viii]See:https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/08/politics/fact-check-trump-nato-press-conference?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=up-next-article-end&tenant_id=related.en;https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/12/politics/trump-gaffes-recap-nato; https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-8-2026;https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/trumps-mental-decline-is-alarmingim
