US Prez says Elon Musk has 'Trump Derangement Syndrome': What is it? List of people POTUS accused of having TDS

US Prez says Elon Musk has 'Trump Derangement Syndrome': What is it? List of people POTUS accused of having TDS

'Trump Derangement Syndrome': What is it? List of people POTUS accused of having TDS Photograph: (AFP)

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US President Donald Trump has accused billionaire Elon Musk of suffering from Trump derangement syndrome: From 2018 Russia–United States summit to John Kelly, the POTUS has accused several people of suffering TDS

US President Donald Trump has accused billionaire Elon Musk of suffering from "Trump derangement syndrome," after the latter targeted him publically over the ‘big, beautiful’ tax and spending bill. Musk who led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a cost-cutting initiative in the Trump administration's second term turned a foe over Trump's disagreement on this bill.

The POTUS said, “He’s not the first – people leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don’t know what it is. It’s sort of ‘Trump derangement syndrome,’ I guess they call it, but we have it with others too.”

Not only him but also Musk also used the term while giving an interview in February. He narrated an incident where he realised that “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” was a real thing. During a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Elon Musk, describing about his friend’s dinner party a month or two ago, compared Trump Derangement Syndrome with rabies. "This whole thing they call Trump Derangement Syndrome - you don’t realize how real it is until you see it. You can’t reason with people," Musk said.

Trump Derangement Syndrome

Trump derangement syndrome was first coined by Trump, which he explained as the instinctual negative and often violent reaction to any supportive statement or event related to him. Some people trace its roots to “Bush Derangement Syndrome,” coined by late conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer in 2003.It also finds its mention in the early 2000s when the idea of Trump as president was been discussed in late-night comedy shows in the US.

Earlier this year, a bill was also proposed in Minnesota seeking to classify intense opposition to Trump - “Trump derangement syndrome” - as a mental health condition. The legislation specifically described this condition as involving "verbal expressions of intense hostility toward" Donald Trump and “overt acts of aggression and violence against anyone supporting Trump or anything that symbolises Trump.”

U.S. Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio introduced a bill in May 2025 that would require the National Institutes of Health to study Trump derangement syndrome and report annually to Congress. Davidson said "TDS has divided families, the country, and led to nationwide violence — including two assassination attempts on President Trump.

Who are the others that POTUS has accused of having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’

About the Author

Navashree Nandini works as a senior sub-editor and has over five years of experience. She writes about global conflicts ranging from India and its neighbourhood to West Asia to the...Read More