AMERICAN REVOLUTION(S): We interrupt our planned report...

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025

...to describe a cognitive breakdown: We interrupt our planned report to describe a cognitive breakdown.

You won't read about it in the New York Times. You'll read about it only here.

This latest incident strikes us as unmistakable. It occurred early yesterday afternoon, as the president hosted a Christmas reception right there at the White House.

As we've noted, cognitive declines of this type are human tragedies. They can also be quite dangerous, depending on who is in decline.

In this instance, even the folks at Mediaite apparently didn't know what to do with what had seemed to occur:

They published this one report about the president's standard delusional claim that he actually won the 2020 election. Also, they published a second report about an odd remark the president made about his eldest son.

In doing so, these folk were taking a dive—were refusing to discuss the elephant there in the room. And so, when we finally clicked to this report by The Independent, we were surprised when we read the highlighted claim:

Trump offers condolences after Brown, Bondi Beach and Syria killings before rambling White House speech

President Donald Trump offered his condolences following shootings at Brown University, Bondi Beach and in Syria before his unscripted remarks at a Christmas reception at the White House.

The president addressed a room full of supporters for more than 40 minutes Sunday as First Lady Melania Trump stood by his side.

[...]

After addressing the three incidents, the president delved into a lengthy, off-the-cuff rant, and at one [point] discussed venomous snakes for roughly 10 minutes.

Say what? As part of his speech at a Christmas reception, the president "at one [point] discussed venomous snakes for roughly ten minutes?"

That seemed a bit hard to believe. Continuing directly, the Independent offered this summary of the satrap's remarks:

[Continuing directly]
He told the story of a White House physician, Dr. James Jones, who was bitten by a viper while hiking in Peru with former President Barack Obama’s daughters. Jones lost consciousness several times but eventually recovered after months of rehabilitation.

“It’s known for being a rather rough place in terms of physical creatures crawling around,” the 79-year-old president said of the South American nation.

“It’s funny when you talk about snakes and things like that, people find it interesting,” Trump said to a hushed room. “Would anybody like to go to Peru and walk around the forest? No thank you, I’ll say no thank you.”

He acknowledged the snake anecdote was “a terrible Christmas story, but it’s a hell of story.”

Puzzled, we watched C-Span's tape of the 40-minute "off the cuff rant." To watch the full forty minutes, click here. Our assessment would be this:

You won't read about in the Times. Also, Mediaite took a dive on what happened.

But it's hard to believe that anyone can watch what the president did without seeing that a serious problem seems to exist. Let us clue you about some of the peculiar things the sitting president weirdly said.

(We start with a minor warning. The Independent summarized, but didn't fact check, the president's weird remarks.)

It's true! Twenty minutes into his 40-minute address, the president began to discuss Dr. James Jones, who was present at the reception and who is or was part of the White House medical staff. Rather, he began to discuss a self-published book Dr. Jones has written. 

As described by Barnes and Noble, the book in question is this:

Venom and Valor: A White House Physician Assistant's Battle for Survival in the Amazon

Overview
This book is a memoir of a life marked by resilience, hard work, and the strength of family bonds. It tells the story of a man who, despite a difficult childhood filled with poverty, an alcoholic father, and early independence, was shaped by adversity into a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. Through the love and support of an extraordinary wife, he overcame the odds, finding purpose in service and sacrifice. This journey is a testament to the enduring power of resilience and the values of hard work and commitment.

The book is 132 pages long. It was self-published in November 2024. 

For the record, we would assume that Dr. Jones is a superb physician. As you can see by clicking this link, he was recently named "Physician Associate of the Year" during the annual meeting of a relevant professional association.

Dr. Jones was present at yesterday's event, and the sitting president took it from there. His rumination lasted almost ten minutes. It seems to us that a cognitive problem became unmistakably clear.

The president went on, and then on and on, about a trip Dr. Jones made to Peru in the company of one of the Obamas' daughters. It was on that trip that Dr. Jones was bitten by a venomous snake.

How dangerous was this medical event? We can't tell you that. But this is the way the event was described back in 2018:

PA LTC Jones Practices Protective Medicine at the White House
December 11, 2018

The tables were turned on PA James Jones in Peru’s Amazon jungle in October 2016.

Jones, a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel working in the White House Medical Unit, was on the detail assigned to President Obama’s daughter Malia during a post-high school program in Peru. Forty-five minutes into a hike, he fell into a bush. Jones became unconscious – twice. The team’s Secret Service agents treating him telephoned White House physician Ronny Jackson, M.D., who determined that a pit viper, apparently lying in the bush, bit Jones.

Jones was transported to a hospital in the city of Cusco, where anti-venom serum was administered. He soon recovered.

Was that an accurate account of what happened? We can't tell you that. But as the sitting president rambled on at yesterday's Christmas event, he told an increasingly puzzled audience that Dr. Jones had been unconscious for weeks; that it took him two years to recover; that attending physicians thought he was dead three times; and that he was read his last rites.

"Look how quiet everybody is," the president eventually said as his ghoulish tale kept unspooling. Finally, after endless side trips, he revealed "the purpose of the story:"

Why did the sitting president devote almost ten minutes to this tale? Rather plainly, the purpose was this:

According to the sitting president, Dr. Jones had written the book three years ago. "It was OK," the president said. "It sold about two copies."

How proud Dr. Jones must have been when the president offered that comment! But lordy! The sitting president now said that he himself had mentioned the book, one day earlier, right there on his Truth Social site!

What had happened as a result? We'll let the commander speak:

PRESIDENT TRUMP (12/14/25): I put it out—Ba ba ba ba. ... And his publisher calls him, says, "Doctor, what happened? What's going on?"

The publisher. who doesn't seem to exist, was baffled nonetheless! According to the sitting president, this is the reason why:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: They sold one hundred thousand books! It's the number one best-seller! Can you believe it?

It's the number one best-selling book. Can you believe that?

[To Dr. Jones] So now you're a best-selling author. Now he can quit the White House!

AUDIENCE: [Applause]

Politely, some in the gathering applauded. Even at this extremely late date, some of them may been able to "believe that!"

On this campus, we had our doubts. And when we checked the best-seller records at Amazon, this is what we found for the book by Dr. Jones, late yesterday afternoon:

Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,174 in Books...#8,809 in Memoirs

As of late yesterday, it was actually the #1.24 million best-seller! Close enough for the purposes of the American discourse, an entity which has long qualified as an imitation of life.

For the record, we ourselves have long suspected that the president may actually believe the fantastical claims he makes. The press has agreed that they will never seek opinion concerning such matters from experienced and qualified medical specialists.

That said:

At yesterday's Christmas event, the president discussed the little girl and the dreadful snake for roughly ten minutes. After that, he proceeded to his more familiar fantasies, claiming (for example) that if California's elections weren't rigged, he would easily win that state.

As for the president's ten-minute jaunt, "the purpose of the story" had now become clear. He told the story to display his mastery of the cosmos. If he so much as mentions a book which originally sold two copies, that book will become the nation's number one best-seller by the very next day!

In her actual best-selling book, the president's doctorate-wielding psychologist niece described the way the president had been trained, aa a child and then as a youth and a young adult, to think such grandiose thoughts about himself. 

She also listed his many probable "psychopathologies," and she noted that the president's father, her own paternal grandfather, had descended into dementia in the last years of his life.

When she did that, American journalists worked to look the other way. They ignored his niece's troubling assessments, reinventing her as a political pundit instead.

In recent weeks, at least one respected physician and one respected psychologist have been speaking openly about this apparent decline on the part of the sitting president. Yesterday, it seemed to us that the cognitive issue stood up and hollered as the president spoke.

Such decline is always a human tragedy. People don't actually choose to experience such a decline.

That said, the New York Times will avert its gaze from yesterday's bizarre performance. So did Mediaite, and so will everyone else.

As a replacement, the Times will offer this substitute piffle from one of its columnists. Parents are told that this brilliance helps explains the very high tuition fees they're shelling out to Duke!

Thid afternoon: Exactly 25 years ago...

Tomorrow: American Revolution(s)! When General Washington fought!