New bill would require Donald Trump's White House to hire a psychiatrist amid fears for President's mental health

'If there are questions about the mental health of the president of the United States, what may be the best way to get the president treatment?'

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A Democratic congressman has said he plans to file a bill to require the White House to hire an in-house psychiatrist for Donald Trump.

“I’m looking at it from the perspective of, if there are questions about the mental health of the president of the United States, what may be the best way to get the president treatment?” California's representative Ted Lieu told The Huffington Post.

Mr Lieu added: “We’re now in the 21st century. Mental health is just as important as physical health."

He said he was planning to introduce the legislation early next week.

In 1928, Congress passed a law requiring a physician in the White House, but the law stopped short of calling for a psychiatrist because of the stigma around mental health issues at the time.

Last week, Mr Lieu criticised Mr Trump for his tweets attacking the New York Times and defending his executive order on immigration, which banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

"Last 24 hrs on Twitter, Donald Trump went on rant about 'death & destruction,' 'FAKE NEWS,' & 'evil.' Should he get mental health exam?" Mr Lieu tweeted.

In his Huffington Post interview, he said "it is not normal" for the president "to write about death and destruction and fake news and evil."

He added: “His disconnection from the truth is incredibly disturbing.

"When you add on top of that his stifling of dissent, his attacks on the free press and his attacks on the legitimacy of judiciary, that then takes us down the road toward authoritarianism.

"That’s why I’ve concluded he is a danger to the republic.”