The second edition!
37 psychiatrists and mental health experts warn against the social, cultural,
and geopolitical consequences of Trump’s psychological dangerousness.

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FATE OF AMERICA

FATE OF HUMANITY

Panelists of the National Press Club conference, “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership,” have issued the following collective statement:

National Press Club Conference Statement

This election comes at a most important turning point in the nation’s history.

For these reasons, top national security experts and leading mental health experts came together as never before, on September 27, 2024, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, to participate in an unprecedented conference.

The theme was, “The More Dangerous State of the World and the Need for Fit Leadership,” organized by the World Mental Health Coalition and led by Dr. Bandy Lee.

The experts feel it is most important to inform the country of the conclusions they collectively reached:

• Mental fitness is a medical issue, not a political one.
• The immense powers of the presidency require that anyone elected to that office be mentally fit.
• In the Nuclear Age, a president must understand that there is no security without mutual security.
• Fitness for duty and dangerousness are different evaluations than diagnosis of mental illness.
• Donald Trump has demonstrated signs that may make him unsuitable and dangerous for the White House.

The experts tackled how our country is governed, by whom our country is led, and whether the institutions of our democracy are sufficiently resilient and self-correcting to meet the dangers and challenges of our time.

We urge all Americans to watch the 1.5-hour video summary of the conference, at DangerousCase.org.

We urge all Americans to ponder, as each of us had to do, why we all decided to come together for this singularly important gathering at the National Press Club at this critical time and decided to jointly endorse this urgent statement.

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Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div.

Violence expert and president of the World Mental Health Coalition

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Gen. Stephen Xenakis, M.D.

Retired brigadier general and Medical Corps officer for the U.S. Army

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Matthew Bywater, M.Sc.

Scholar of authoritarian societies and human rights activist

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Claire Finkelstein, J.D., Ph.D.

Director of Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School

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Henry Friedman, M.D.

Psychoanalyst and associate professor of psychiatry at Tufts and Harvard Medical Schools

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James Gilligan, M.D.

Former chair of President Bill Clinton’s National Campaign Against Youth Violence

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Steven Hassan, Ph.D.

Undue influence expert and author of ‘The Cult of Trump’

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Judith Herman, M.D.

Senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and author of ‘Trauma and Recovery’

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Peter Kuznick, Ph.D.

Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University

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Robert Jay Lifton, M.D.

Lecturer in psychiatry at Columbia University and author of ‘Nazi Doctors’

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Ray McGovern

Former CIA officer and chair of National Intelligence Estimates

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James Merikangas, M.D.

Clinical professor at George Washington University School of Medicine

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Richard Painter, Esq.

Former chief White House ethics counsel of the George W. Bush administration

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Hon. Claudine Schneider

Former five-term Republican congresswoman from Rhode Island

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Stephen Soldz, Ph.D.

Past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility and leading anti-torture activist

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Drew Westen, Ph.D.

Professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University and author of ‘The Political Brain’