Published in the Denver Post on September 30th, 2025

Re: “Trump criticizes countries at U.N.,” Sept. 24 news story

Just over a year ago, we were bemoaning the fact that President Joe Biden’s advisors and the press had not called the question of his mental acuity far sooner than they did. Following President Trump’s United Nations speech, described on the front page of The Denver Post this morning, it is time to raise the question about his mental acuity. His speech was unhinged, often not founded in fact, and rambled badly.

As I volunteer for several groups focused on climate issues, I pay close attention to what the president says and does in relation to that topic. Leaving aside what he has already done to destroy the ability of the U.S. to take a leadership role in the manufacture and adoption of clean energy, his speech called on the world to refer to coal as “clean, beautiful coal,” told world leaders that their countries would fail if they didn’t stop falling for “the green scam,” repeated false information about the cost of renewable energy, and talked about how renewable energy would require subsidies (avoiding the fact that global oil subsidies are far higher). And then there was the rambling, which, I’m sorry to say, we are getting used to and seemingly accepting. Watching the world leaders with their stunned faces reminded me that we can’t get used to what we are seeing; those who have the power to do so need to call this into question.

So who is going to raise the issue of the president’s mental acuity? Let’s start with an editorial from The Denver Post.

Lynn K. Rhodes Fritz, Lakewood