John D. Gartner is an American psychologist,

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

, author, activist, and former part-time assistant professor at

Johns Hopkins University Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the ...

Education

Gartner graduated ''magna cum laude'' from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, and then completed his post-doctoral training at

Weill Medical College Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Career

Gartner is a psychotherapist with private practices in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where he specialized in the treatment of borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder and depression. He was a part-time professor, until 2015, for 28 years at

, and is a widely published author of books, and of articles for scientific and other journals.

Activism

Gartner has described himself as a member of " The Resistance" against

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, stating: Gartner has described Trump as "an animal" who is "convinced that he actually believes that he has some type of God-like powers". Gartner has described Trump as "unwell, dangerously unfit, malignant personality who has reaped massive destruction", who is "hypomanic", "showing gross signs of dementia", and other mental illness and personality disorders.

2017 mental fitness for Office of President Trump petition

In the first months of 2017, Gartner collected the signatures of more than 25,000 mental health professionals. The petition, "Mental Health Professionals Declare Trump is Mentally Ill And Must Be Removed", was sent to the Minority leader, Senator

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

of New York. At the end of April 2017, Gartner sent the petition to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with more than 41,000 signatures. According to Gartner, Trump's mental handicaps are a mixture of

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of co ...

sociopathy Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to s ...

and a measure of

sadism Sadism may refer to: * Everyday sadism, the derivation of gratification from the physical pain or humiliation of another person * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliatio ...

. The petition's declaration stated:

Duty to Warn

In 2017, Gartner founded Duty to Warn, an organization of mental health professionals and laypersons who consider it their duty to warn patients, clients, and the community-at-large, when aware of potential danger.

2024 probable dementia mental fitness for Office of President Trump petition

In an attempt to raise public awareness about Trump's apparent cognitive challenges and the extreme danger they represent to the nation if he were to take back the White House in the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, Gartner started a petition at

Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

called "We diagnose Trump with probable dementia: A petition for licensed professionals only". John Gartner, Harry Segal, and their expert guests, weekly Podcast sessions analyze the psyche of Donald Trump, "documenting his cognitive decline and (...) his malignant narcissism" e.g. at Spotify.

Bibliography

Gartner is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several books, including: *''The Hypomanic Edge'' (2005), in which he argues that many American leaders could be diagnosed as "hypomanic" *''In Search of Bill Clinton'' (2008), which claimed

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

showed manic tendencies *''Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the Mind of Donald Trump'' *''The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President''(2017), contributor

References

External links

The Psychology of Donald Trump

We May Need the Twenty-fifth Amendment if Trump Loses

Trump’s dangerous narcissism may have changed leadership forever
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gartner, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American psychologists American political psychologists Criticism of Donald Trump Princeton University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Weill Cornell Medical College alumni