Five Republican state senators in Minnesota plan to introduce a bill that would classify “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS) as a mental illness, defining it as an “acute onset of paranoia” regarding Donald Trump’s presidencies, according to state documents.
Trump and his advisers, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung, have frequently accused critics of having “severe” TDS. The term has also been widely used by Republican politicians and conservative media figures.
The bill, set to be introduced before the Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, has raised concerns about the politicization of mental health. Critics argue it could be used to delegitimize dissent, misappropriate mental health care, and undermine genuine mental health conditions.
The co-sponsors—state Senators Glenn Gruenhagen, Justin Eichorn, Nathan Wesenberg, Steve Drazkowski, and Eric Lucero—argue that TDS symptoms include “Trump-induced general hysteria,” leading to difficulty distinguishing between policy disagreements and supposed psychological pathology in Trump’s behavior. They claim the condition manifests through extreme hostility toward Trump and aggressive behavior toward his supporters.
Democrats and others dismiss TDS as a fabricated political label used to silence criticism. They argue that no clinical evidence supports its existence and note that extreme, uncritical support for Trump could also be considered a form of TDS.
The bill faces an uphill battle, as Minnesota’s Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) holds a narrow majority in the state Senate. Meanwhile, the Minnesota House of Representatives is evenly split, with both parties controlling 67 seats each.
