Reporter’s notebook: I never thought I’d be writing about Trump’s mind

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As a science reporter, I never thought I’d be writing about President Trump’s mind. I’m used to describing rigorous published research and interviewing experts who know a subject backward


and forward.


So when my editor proposed in January that I investigate the claim that Trump might have a mental illness, and then this month that I look into chatter that Trump’s speaking style is


dramatically different today than it was decades ago, my first response in both cases was: Um, are you sure that’s a good idea?


Lots of readers, and some other reporters, think it’s a terrible idea. They argue, rightly, that no one who is not a physician and who has not examined Trump can say anything authoritative


about his health, mental or otherwise.