I think there’s an answer. But it’s not age — or, at least, it’s not just age.
You’ve probably seen the clip by now. Donald Trump is holding a town hall. It’s Monday, Oct. 14, in Pennsylvania. He was being asked softball questions by Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, and there is a medical emergency in the crowd. The rally stops for a while. They play “Ave Maria” while the medics respond. Then Trump and Noem begin again. Then someone else in the crowd needs medical help. The rally stops again, begins again. Noem is settling back in when Trump announces he’s had enough.
Donald Trump: Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. [Cheers.] Who the hell wants to hear questions, right? [Laughter.]
What comes next is something I’ve never seen before. Trump, swaying dreamily to his playlist, in front of a rally full of people, for nearly 40 minutes. It was like he was D.J.’ing his own bar mitzvah.
. . .
We’ve never had good language for talking about Donald Trump. We’ve never had good language for talking about the way he thinks and the way in which it is different from how other people think and talk and act. And so we circle it. We imply it. I don’t think this is bias so much as it’s confusion. In order to talk about something, you need the words for it. But for me, something clicked watching him up there, swaying to that music.
TL;DR: Trump is disinhibited, perhaps pathologically so. Sometimes this has served him well; at other times it has led him to walk into trouble when others would have the sense to shut up. In his first presidency his impulsive urges (“can’t you just shoot them?”) were moderated by professional staff who would not always act on what he said. Trump hated this and Project 2025 is largely about ensuring that, in a second Trump presidency, the govenment at all levels is packed with Trump loyalists who will put his every order into action. So next time he orders protestors shot, it may happen.