Trump is living in fear 😳😳

Timothy L. O’Brien, senior executive editor at Bloomberg Opinion, appeared on just the second episode of MSNBC’s The Weekend: Primetime to break down Donald Trump’s provocative remarks about wanting a third term—an ambition clearly blocked by the U.S. Constitution.

A seasoned Trump observer, O’Brien described the former president as a man driven largely by “self-aggrandizement” or “self-preservation,” suggesting that while Trump may indulge in the fantasy of eternal power, he’s unlikely to seriously pursue it.

“He’d love to live until he’s 300,” O’Brien quipped. “And he’d probably like to be president for 200 of those years.”

Yet the reality of age is catching up with Trump, who turns 79 in June. “What struck me, watching that clip, was just how much Donald Trump has aged,” O’Brien noted. “Yes, voters and the 22nd Amendment stand in the way of a third term—but so does time.”

While the Constitution prohibits any individual from being elected president more than twice, O’Brien pointed out that Trump’s health—particularly his deep-seated fear of cognitive decline—may be a more immediate concern, as echoed in reporting by The Washington Post.

“He lives in fear of walking the same path his father did—from dementia to Alzheimer’s,” said Timothy L. O’Brien. “It’s a burden he’s carried for a long time.”

Fred Trump, the family patriarch and a prominent real estate mogul, died in 1999 at age 93 after a long and difficult struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. First diagnosed with dementia in 1991, Fred continued to show up at the office daily—even as his condition worsened. “He came into the office every day until the day he went to the hospital,” recalled family friend Richard Levy.

According to O’Brien, Donald Trump seldom speaks about his father’s illness—likely out of political calculation. Openly acknowledging such fears would be a difficult pivot for someone who has repeatedly mocked President Joe Biden’s mental acuity. But behind closed doors, those close to Trump have noticed troubling signs.

“Compare him now to Trump 1.0—the speech is slower, often slurred, the posture more stooped, and the energy noticeably faded,” O’Brien observed. “I question how much genuine desire he still has for the job, beyond the fact that it keeps him out of prison and under the spotlight.”

Adding weight to the concern, Trump’s own nephew, Fred C. Trump III, shared a strikingly similar observation in a People magazine interview last year.

“Like anyone else, I’ve noticed the shift,” said Fred, now 61. “And I see it unfolding in a way that’s very similar to how my grandfather declined. Anyone claiming dementia isn’t part of the Trump family story is ignoring the truth.”