I Know Just How Bad Trump’s Decline Is About to Be, Says Kurt Andersen

On a recent episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, author Kurt Andersen sat down with host Joanna Coles to talk about something that’s been on his mind for a while: the rapid erosion of Donald Trump’s mental faculties.

Andersen didn’t mince words. He likened the former president’s current state to a kind of “sundowner” effect that many dementia patients experience – a late‑day flare‑up of irritability, confusion and anger. “He’s beyond whatever cognitive decline he had before,” Andersen said, adding that the pattern is eerily similar to what clinicians observe in elderly people whose brains are shutting down.

What makes the conversation especially uneasy is the timing. The 2026 midterm elections loom large, and Andersen warned that a big Republican defeat could act like a trigger, pushing Trump’s behavior into even more volatile territory. “If the GOP loses control of Congress, you’ll see him get angrier, more… yourself,” he told Coles, pausing before noting that the exact form that anger takes is hard to predict.

Andersen also highlighted the paradox that fuels Trump’s fury: despite having achieved almost everything he ever campaigned for, he remains “manifestly miserable.” That combination of entitlement and resentment, he argued, explains why setbacks—real or imagined—hit him so hard.

He pointed to a current intra‑party squabble as a case in point. Texas Senator‑like Republican Ken Paxton has publicly blamed Trump for his own Senate ambitions, even mocking the former president’s wardrobe. Trump, in turn, has lashed out, calling Paxton’s attire “ugly.” The spat illustrates how personal grievances are spilling over into the broader GOP narrative.

When pressed about what Trump might actually do if the election results sting, Andersen said the former president will likely fall back on familiar tactics: crying “rigged,” mobilizing legal challenges, and rallying his base with scathing accusations. “We’ve built a legal apparatus over the past few years that’s ready for exactly that,” he noted, a hint of resignation in his tone.

As the podcast wrapped, Andersen emphasized that this isn’t speculation for its own sake; it’s a warning about the potential fallout for a nation already coping with deep political divides. The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.