Such views have been cumulatively confirmed as we learn more - from the President's own actions and more particularly words (courtesy of Twitter) - as to exactly what kind of person he is.
It was hoped that the Donald Trump we saw on the campaign trail was a fabrication designed to capture headlines and attention, but one that would be put to one side in the unlikely (so it seemed) event that he would take up the reins of office.
Sadly, the man we saw during the campaign, having installed himself in the White House, has revealed himself to be the real Donald Trump, so far as there is one.
We now know beyond peradventure that the man who is President has the mind of an overgrown and spoilt schoolboy.
The juvenile behaviour, the "yah boo sucks" language, the trivial vendettas - most importantly, the inability to grasp what his role really entails, and the limitations which the constitution imposes on his powers - are all signs of arrested development, wrapped up in what passes for, just about, the body of an overweight male adult.
These flaws make it difficult to take him seriously. He was probably wise not to echo JFK's famous salute to the people of Berlin - "Ich bin ein Berliner" - when he, Trump, arrived in Hamburg.
But the problem is that American voters have entrusted him with serious powers - powers to decide between war and peace, powers to risk the future of the planet in respect of climate change, powers to deny 23 million Americans a semblance of effective healthcare for the sake of putting in place hundreds of billions of tax cuts for his rich friends.
And he is intent on further using those powers to divide races and religions against other, to portray his opponents as enemies, to promote - using his powers as President - his family's and his own business interests, and to issue threats to a free press and an independent judiciary.
With each new self-inflicted wound, there is a sense of revulsion and disbelief. America's friends are unfamiliar with the intricacies of the American constitution, but they are increasingly desperate that "something should be done".
If the President's state of mind gives cause for concern, as it does - if he often seems lost and confused - what remedies are available? If he loses touch with reality - and seems often to be acting out the role of an imagined Donald Trump as though it was just a televisual image in a fantasy world - what can be done to restore a sense of reality before irreparable damage is done?
The leaders of the Republican party bear a heavy responsibility. Republican votes will be needed if effective action is to be taken. They alone have the power to deliver those votes. The question is - what takes priority, the interests of the party or the country - or, for that matter, the world?
