Trump’s ‘Imaginary Thinking’ — Letters that should have been in the new york times

OCT. 6, 2017

To the Editor:

“ ‘Soon,’ ‘Very Soon,’ ‘Eventually’: A Detailed List of Things Trump Said Would Happen” (Oct. 2) documents a manner of speaking by President Trump that, unfortunately, says a lot about his psychological makeup.

When he comes up against issues for which there is no easy solution — that is, most of what a president faces — he kicks the proverbial can down the road, reassuring himself that one day it will all be worked out.

This is a kind of imaginary thinking common in childhood that typically gives way to a more realistic view of the world. That our president still thinks this way should be of concern to all of us, regardless of party affiliation.

LARRY S. SANDBERG, NEW YORK

The writer is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College.