The Nuclear Football Needs to be Removed...
An Emergency Situation Calls for Emergency Measures
The Nuclear Football Needs to be Removed, and a ‘Real’ Doomsday Clock be Moved Closer to Midnight
In the evening of March 21, 2026, Donald Trump posted on social media:
If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!
Then, in the early morning of March 23, 2026, he posted:
I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS…. I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES….
A prominent commentator in the news recently got in touch with me. He asked:
By any chance, did you watch Trump back down yesterday from his threat to bomb Iran’s infrastructure? He claimed that this reversal resulted from great progress in reaching a diplomatic solution. The Iranians immediately said that there had been no negotiations at all.
Of course, Trump lies every time that he opens his mouth, but it seemed to me to be something more pathological—that he had to invent an entire story to back down, that this was confabulation, not lies. Another theory is that he was manipulating the stock market for himself and friends.
I’d be grateful for your thoughts on this. Is Trump simply lying, or is the pathology (which is true in any event) deeper than that?
I responded:
As you know, the reason we exceptionally came out as psychiatrists in 2017 was because this is a psychiatric case before anything else, and what we have feared the most is now coming to pass! We cannot underestimate the degree to which the mind is capable of denying reality to fulfill its wishful thinking, which is the origin of delusions. In Donald Trump’s case, his mental fragility is of a degree that making up a critical reality from whole cloth is of course highly probable....
We have seen this coming, from the time he was inventing his own economic principles and imposing tariffs to fulfill his need to know “better than all the economists.” Then he waged a reckless war despite advancing talks, because of his need to be “better than all the generals.” Each time his errors are about to be revealed, he descends further down his psychotic spiral and must invent a new way to assert how he is “better than all”—until which time it becomes necessary to obliterate all eyes upon him, which would be the end of the world, and you are correct in that that possibility is not too far.... He has also orchestrated the situation so that those around him would rather go down to their deaths than oppose him!
Please mention that all news programs should have on psychiatrists! We were blacked out of the media, precisely because the 25th Amendment was so close to being implemented during the first Trump presidency…. Congress members are reaching out again, but they cannot do anything without our ability to educate the public.
And I have emphasized how, in a mental health pandemic, removal needs to come before healing the rest. In medicine, there is a concept called, “triage”: in emergencies, healthcare professionals prioritize immediate life-saving needs—deferring less urgent matters and recognizing those beyond help—to use limited time and resources efficiently.
Donald Trump is the immediate existential threat that needs to be contained, even if the source of the problem is deeper. Beyond him are the structural flaws that I have been warning against since 1995. What is happening today was predictable, based even on my rudimentary knowledge of social psychology at the time.
Here is how we can order it:
1. A political crisis is emerging from one man in unprecedented ways;
2. The psychiatric pathology behind Donald Trump’s “political” behavior is causing the crisis (as well as the inability to contain the crisis);
3. The socioeconomic and geopolitical structures are at the root of why we have such a president in the first place (the weaponization of psychopathology is only the logical conclusion); and
4. There is a spiritual source to the current socioeconomic and geopolitical structure we have chosen (when we as a society decided that we are not all responsible for all, and that we are separate from one another, we were already planting the seeds of our own destruction).
As our vision expands, it will become possible to address the spiritual source of the current crises; at that level, we would even resolve all problems at once with the greatest efficacy and least effort. Leaders who are wise have already consulted and valued me for insights into “Level 2,” which vastly clarify and offer effective solutions for “Level 1” (but this was already too threatening for keepers of the status quo, and my colleagues and I were shut down for this reason). Imagine what clarity and solutions could be possible if we were open ourselves to “Level 3” or even “Level 4”!
Now, back to the immediate emergency at hand. Let us be very explicit, because today’s situation is beyond explosive; it has the potential to become catastrophic. Especially with the super-dangerous and more-endangered-than-ever Donald Trump still in charge, it could quickly, by design or by accident, spiral into becoming terminal for us all.
Israel has never been attacked like this before. By all accounts, it is about to run out of interceptors and to be pulverized. Benjamin Netanyahu will try to maneuver Donald Trump into escalation, in the same way he has manipulated him into starting this war. If our country has chosen to be willfully ignorant about Trump’s mental deficiencies, Netanyahu has reportedly gone as far as to “psy-op” him—and I agree that it is unlikely this opportunity was not taken!
We may be within days of Donald Trump being manipulated into using tactical nuclear weapons. Once a few hundred soldiers are sent to be slaughtered, he is likely to be goaded into nuclear war. No sane advanced country should be allowing such risks. Consequently, it is not too extreme for the nation to insist now that one way or another “the Nuclear Football” be removed from Trump’s sole control. If this is not done, the likelihood he will say and act in ways that will cause the Doomsday Clock to strike Midnight is now far too great. I have consistently advocated that a “real” Doomsday Clock reflect and not attenuate reality; I suggest that it be moved from 85 to 50 seconds and counting!
Announcement:
Dr. Bandy X. Lee is in the process of establishing SURVIVAL UNIVERSITY. Please use the contact form to join and to help make this unprecedented effort successful. She is also leading a public course series with Preventing Violence Now, about which you can find out more and register here. Our next class is Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. (exceptionally moved from Saturday to make way for No Kings day).
Dr. Lee is a forensic and social psychiatrist, president of the World Mental Health Coalition, cofounder of Preventing Violence Now, and a long-term consultant to the World Health Organization and other United Nations bodies on scientific approaches to violence prevention. She became known to the public through her 2017 Yale conference and book that alerted against dangerous leadership. In 2019, she organized a major National Press Club Conference on the theme of, “The Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” In 2024, she followed up with another major Conference, “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership.” She published another book on dangerous leadership that has recently been expanded, in addition to a volume on how dangerous signs in a leader spreads and two critical statements on dangerous leadership. As many of the dangers she warned against unfolded—including millions of unnecessary pandemic deaths, the propagation of political violence, the exacerbation of economic inequality, the destruction of democracy, the devastation of the climate, the replacement of international collaboration with hostile confrontation, a renewed and accelerated nuclear arms race, a global emboldening of dictators leading to brutal warfare and genocide, and growing state-sanctioned cruelty and human rights violations—she has advocated for another way. Now, the author of the internationally-acclaimed textbook, Violence; over 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters; 17 scholarly books and journal special issues; and over 300 opinion editorials, introduces her curriculum on rising above the current destructive course to embrace an awareness of, “One World or None.”
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Discussion about this post
https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/an-emergency-situation-calls-for-emergency
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Dr Lee, I agree with you. I’m concerned not enough voters are paying attention, are not paralyzed because of distrust or hate of democrats or are seeing what you are seeing. I read many comments of worry and disgust, and I share them, regarding AIPAC and similar money influencing Democrats. I’m really concerned too many voters will stay away or even vote Red this November.
I’m wondering if you could address the danger of republicans vs the distaste, or even distrust of democrats, so voters can see the choice is either full and permanent autocracy vs a chance to address these dangers. Democrats are not perfect but they are, IMO, the only viable option.
I’m also wondering if you could counsel voters on how to best communicate with Democratic members of Congress so that voters concerns and wishes can provide clear directives to Congress.
Thank you so much.