Does the President even know what is happening?

[dweller]

Heather Delaney Reese
Feb 22 , 2026


Just after 6:30 p.m. tonight, the President of the United States stood before a room of governors at a formal White House dinner and opened his remarks by confessing that he believes his own Cabinet or maybe others in the room want to overthrow him.

“Every time they look in the mirror, every time they wake up or go to sleep, they look at that mirror, and they say, ‘I should be president, not him.’”

And he said it with a slight smile. But there was nothing funny about it. It was raw paranoia on display for the world to see. And whether the fear was real or imagined, most presidents would have known how dangerous it is to say those words out loud. He didn’t. And the spectacle of what he said then, and the rest of his extended ramblings, deepened the sense that something is profoundly wrong.

It was also on display when he entered the room to the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance,” walking down the red carpet lined with military members and flags, where Melania had to hold his hand tightly, smiling widely to distract from his physical and mental decline. She subtly guided his pace, aligning his path and direction, steadying him when his body seemed stiff and unsure. Her grip was firm in contrast to his careful, almost hobbling movements.

When they reached the table, she was the one who greeted the governors. She shook hands. She carried the conversation. He lingered half a step behind her, his left hand pressed against the small of her back, his right hanging motionless at his side. He looked diminished and smaller than usual. And more than once, you could see concern in the eyes of the people watching him.

https://heatherdelaneyreese.substack.com/p/does-the-president-even-know-what





✌🏻

[AZJonnie]

1. Well, this news has put a spring in my step this morning

Thanks for that, dweller!

He's comin' to see ya Elizabeth!!!

[malaise]

11. True but Shady and the miller may soon turn on each another in their

quest for the throne😀.
I’d pay to see that.

[tanyev]

2. Wowzers.

He launched into a story about the Great Salt Lake that sounded like a man trying to work out, in real time, where a major body of water was located, despite the fact that it shares its name with the city right next to it. “We’re going to save the Great Salt Lake. You know that, right? We’ve got a problem,” he said. “He came in to see me today. These are the kind of things he said, sir: we have to save the Great Salt Lake. I said, ‘Explain this to me, please.’ In that city called Salt Lake City, somebody said, ‘Where is it located?’ I said, ‘It’s located in Salt Lake City, right?’” That was the President of the United States, standing in front of a camera, openly questioning the location of one of the most well-known landmarks in the American West.

Also, wasn’t there a story just a few days ago about Melania definitively bailing for NYC? Did she get a generous incentive to stay?

[Kid Berwyn]

3. And Melania can't wash the blood off from her hands.

Interesting times, wot?

[hunter]

4. I saw Ronald Reagan during his second term in a similarly confused state.

It must have been obvious to everyone that he didn't know where the hell he was or what he was doing there.

Nevertheless, when he got to the podium his acting skills kicked in and he managed to fire off a few well-rehearsed lines for the cameras before he was hustled out of the room by his aides, who were probably fearing he'd go off-script.

I think that was the first time I was shocked by the U.S. news media. There was no reporting, none, on what they were witnessing with their own eyes.

It seems the oligarchs have been working behind the scenes for many years to normalize the illegal, bizarre, and inappropriate behaviors of their meat-puppet politicians.

[mopinko]

5. my late bil worked for the dea after law school.

he was disgusted by what he saw, and went into criminal defense. but he stayed in touch w his dea friends. they told him stories early in his 2nd term.
it was an open secret in dc.

[malaise]

6. So just croak

Slobby

[durablend]

7. Is "the button" being kept away from him?

Or are they saying "If you've had enough of 'the left' you can use this"?

[niyad]

8. Did he even identify the Great Salt Lake person?

[AnotherMother4Peace]

9. tRump's unfiltered anger, threats, & paranoia are most likely a result of dementia and/or mini-strokes.

This happened to my Dad before he passed. He was always a mean man, and a racist. Before he passed he was alone, mostly due to chasing away workers and caretakers that helped him keep up with his chores. Fortunately he passed before he needed to be restrained in a care home. That's what it was coming to.

[Gaugamela]

10. More from the same article:

This chapter ends when we make it end. It ends when Democrats take back control AND when every single person who enabled this regime is held accountable. Not with a slap on the wrist. Not with a “let’s move forward and heal.” With trials. Real ones. The kind we haven’t seen since the Nuremberg trials that were conducted by serious people with the moral clarity and legal authority to match the scale of what has been done.

And that means every layer. It means investigating how Trump’s family increased their wealth while in office. It means asking real questions about Melania’s $40 million Amazon documentary, which looks less like a film deal and more like a bribe. It means asking how Cabinet members like Kristi Noem are affording extensive cosmetic work, designer clothing, and lifestyles their government salaries could never support. Where is that money coming from? And if it’s coming from their positions of power, from the public dollar, then it’s not just unethical. It could be criminal. This is why we need hearings. It all must come to light.

That includes every agency head and every ICE officer who carried out raids that violated people’s rights. Every single one of them must face accountability under the law.

We also need to make sure that convicted felons can never again hold the highest office in the land. That should not be a controversial statement. But here we are.

https://heatherdelaneyreese.substack.com/p/does-the-president-even-know-what

[City Lights]

12. If only there was someone who cared enough about him

to do something...