Gerard Baker, the editor-at-large of The Wall Street Journal, which has become a thorn in Donald Trump’s side during his second term, delivered a scathing assessment of the president in his latest weekly column.
Baker, who served as the newspaper’s editor-in-chief from 2013 to 2018, began by declaring he has “never been a victim of Trump derangement syndrome,” which is not an official medical diagnosis but the insulting term commonly used by Trump and his supporters to characterize criticism of the president.
“Yes, I’ve found much that is repellent in the man’s character and rhetoric,” Baker acknowledged in the essay, headlined “Help—I Feel a Bad Case of TDS Coming On,” while explaining why he initially believed that Trump in office was necessary.
But Baker said he was “sorry to have to report that I have now self-diagnosed with a virulent form of TDS,” which has “steadily progressed over the last year from Trump disappointment syndrome through Trump disillusionment syndrome to a full-blown case of Trump dismay syndrome.”
Baker unleashed a lengthy catalog of his grievances with Trump during his second term, taking aim at what he described as the president’s “self-indulgent tariff fixation,” “insouciance about public finances,” the war with Iran and “grotesque self-enrichment,” among other issues.