General Discussion

Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is a pseudoscientific pejorative term used to describe negative reactions to U.S. president Donald Trump that are characterized as irrational and disconnected from Trump's actual policy positions.[1] The term has mainly been used by Trump supporters to discredit criticism of him, as a way of reframing the discussion by suggesting that his opponents are incapable of accurately perceiving the world.

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According to The Independent, "the highly-politicized term" was coined to dismiss criticism of Trump in his first term as liberal hysteria, suggesting that people abandon all logic and reason due to their dislike of the president.

Trump and his top communication advisers, including current White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung, have repeatedly accused many critics of having a "severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome". The phrase has also been used by Republican politicians and talk show hosts. Newsweek was also accused of suffering from TDS by Cheung. Democrats and others have contended that it is not a legitimate condition, and no clinical data supports its existence and that instead, it is a label used to dismiss criticism of him.

Senator Rand Paul has cited the so-called syndrome several times. In a July 16, 2018, interview he said investigators should simply focus on election security and stop "accusing Trump of collusion with the Russians and all this craziness that's not true"—accusations which he said were entirely motivated by "Trump derangement syndrome"

In July 2018, Jeanine Pirro was a guest on The View to promote her newly published book[which?]. While she was responding to a question about how the "deep state" really works, she accused co-host Whoopi Goldberg of suffering from Trump derangement syndrome.

In August 2018, Trump White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used the term in a tweet: "Trump Derangement Syndrome is becoming a major epidemic among Democrats. Instead of freaking out about the booming Trump economy why not celebrate it?

In September 2018, Fox News personality and Trump supporter Sean Hannity criticized The Washington Post as having Trump derangement syndrome for stating in an editorial that Trump, because of his attitude toward climate change, is "complicit" in hurricanes battering the United States;[39][40] Hannity said, "it is now a full-blown psychosis, it is a psychological level of unhingement I have never seen."

In December 2025, following the killing of Rob and Michele Reiner, Trump suggested in a Truth Social post that Rob Reiner's death was caused by anger toward his "Trump derangement syndrome.

A group of Minnesota Senate Republicans introduced a bill[52] in March 2025 that seeks to classify "Trump Derangement Syndrome" as a mental illness and incorporate it into the state's legal definition through amended statutes.[32] The bill has proposed that the "syndrome" as the "acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump" which should be recognized in legal and medical contexts.[53][18] The bill also states that the symptoms may include "Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald Trump's behavior" which can manifest as "intense verbal hostility toward Trump" and "overt acts of aggression and violence" towards Trump and MAGA supporters.[32][18] The Minnesota bill uses the same wording that Krauthammer used to describe Bush derangement syndrome.