Trump's fiery and mad media performance was actually sad

There have been hundreds of press conferences in the East Room of the White House.

But none like that.

This was a mad, combative, alarming, bizarre, wild, and unique performance, even by Donald Trump's standards.

• Trump defends 'fine-tuned machine' in lively news conference

How to even judge it? I would guess his core supporters loved it. His most bitter critics were thrilled too, feeling it hints that this presidency might actually be doomed.

But to my mind, it was actually sad.

The president is clearly binge-watching on TV news and obsessed with coverage. This is a man who doesn't grasp the job he has.

As one Republican senator texted to a reporter: "President Trump should be doing this with a therapist, not on live TV."

He doesn't have time to understand the Middle East - clear from his press conference yesterday with Netanyahu - but he has time to speak for 75 minutes about "fake" news.

There are plenty of political analysts in Washington tonight asking whether they are even qualified to comment on this Trump performance.

They are asking if it requires someone with a medical, not a journalistic, background.

View some of these extracts from the news conference and make up your own mind.