Political analyst David Rothkopf thinks that President Donald Trump is hearing the death rattle of the "Grim Reaper" creeping up behind him.
Speaking to the Daily Beast's daily podcast, Rothkopf pointed to some of Trump's recent posts on Truth Social, including one of Trump standing next to the late President John F. Kennedy, who died in 1963 when Trump was only 17. Another AI image showed a movie poster of Trump grabbing George Washington's hand to save him from falling off of a cliff of Mt. Rushmore. Trump also appeared to be wearing a red cape that was flapping in the breeze. The clip was titled "Trump Washington: A time travel epic."
“Trump probably, on some level, despite the fact that he’s a narcissist and a psychopath and all these other things ... has the worst case of imposter syndrome in history,” Rothkopf said.
“And he knows he doesn’t belong there. And so he’s like, ‘Well, look, I have the same job George Washington had. I have the same job John F. Kennedy had. I could be surrounded by all of these people,'" he continued.
Rothkopf called it ironic to see Trump use an AI image of himself with Kennedy as Trump tried to put his name above the assassinated president at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Trump has "upended" the monument, which normally has a robust season of symphonies, operas, musicals and plays.
“It is an empty disaster. There’s still tarps over the front of it because Trump can’t bear to see the front of it without his name on it now,” said Rothkopf.
“You know, he’s hearing the footsteps of the Grim Reaper in the background ... and he wants to memorialize himself everywhere he looks,” he said.
Speaking to a conservative podcaster for his Monday show, authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan revealed that it's clear the president is considering his own mortality as an elderly president in his final term. Trump faces a number of health issues that have become public in recent months. His hands are bruised and his ankles and feet are swollen.
"I mean, look, it's not like Donald Trump sits around doing sort of therapy sessions with people, but he makes — he makes comments to advisors that — and to various people and associates and confidants that they all interpret as him thinking about his own mortality," said Haberman.
In October 2025, Trump rambled to reporters, "I don't think there's anything going to get me in heaven. I think I'm not maybe heaven-bound. I've made life a lot better for a lot of people."
The White House told the Daily Beast: “David Rothkopf is a far-left loser who clearly suffers from a severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted his peanut-sized brain.”