Paul Mrocka, Retired Honeywell Senior International Captain at Honeywell/AlliedSignal / Paradox Brewery

This Isn’t Normal. And We Need to Stop Pretending It Is.

Did anyone actually watch President Trump’s speech last night in North Carolina? Not the clips. Not the spin. The whole speech. It was supposed to be about affordability and the economy. Instead, it turned into rambling stories about folding underwear. He talked about “beautiful panties,” about Melania steaming them, tying them up, putting them neatly into a drawer, and how beautiful it all was. Then he said he doesn’t even notice beautiful women anymore. He said he only sees the arm of a chair. An armchair. That’s what he talked about.

That is not policy. That is not leadership. That is babbling.

People keep saying, “Don’t question his health.” I’m not diagnosing anything. I’m describing what we all saw and heard. He couldn’t stay on topic. He wandered from thought to thought. He repeated himself. He drifted. He’s been falling asleep in public. He keeps bragging about taking the same cognitive test three times and says that proves he’s perfect. If you passed it once, why take it two more times? That doesn’t calm concerns. It raises them.

This matters because this man holds real power. He holds the nuclear codes. This is not late-night comedy. This is not harmless talk.

And then he went even further. In that same speech, he talked about suing the United States government for one billion dollars. A sitting president talking about suing the government he runs, while also being in a position to influence the outcome. He joked about giving the money to charity, then immediately walked it back, saying maybe he wouldn’t, maybe he’d keep it. Like it was his decision. Like the money already belonged to him.

Ask yourself a simple question. What court does he think decides that? What law allows a president to sue his own government and then hint he’ll pocket the money? That is not how America works. That is not how the law works. That is not how leadership works.

At the same time, he keeps trying to put his name on everything. Buildings. Institutions. Even memorial spaces meant to honor the dead. Memorials exist to remember sacrifice and history, not to feed the ego of a living man. When a president can’t tell the difference, something is wrong.

And still, people defend it. That’s the part I can’t understand. He can’t walk straight. He can’t hold a clear conversation. He falls asleep in front of cameras. He talks about underwear, chairs, and “beautiful” things while holding the most powerful office on earth. And people still fight for him like none of this matters.

History has seen this before. Leaders surrounded by yes-men. Institutions too scared or too compromised to step in. People telling themselves, “It’s fine,” because facing the truth feels uncomfortable. Those stories never end well.

The closest comparison I can make isn’t political. It’s a story. The Grinch. Loud. Self-obsessed. Taking what doesn’t belong to him and calling it greatness. The difference is the Grinch was fiction. This is real life.

I’m not saying the sky is falling. I’m saying open your eyes. This isn’t left or right. This is about judgment, stability, and basic fitness for office. History will judge this moment, and it won’t just judge the man. It will judge the people who saw it, excused it, and stayed silent.

This is serious. And pretending it isn’t may be the most dangerous thing we can do.

Paul Mrocka

Veteran, Business Owner, Defender of the Constitution