At 79 years old, Donald Trump, the 47th and previously 45th president of the United States, is the oldest person in American history to be inaugurated as president for the second time. He became the oldest presidential nominee of a major party in July 2024, five weeks after his 78th birthday.[2][3] Should he serve as president until August 15, 2028, he would be the oldest sitting president in American history. On January 20, 2029, the end of his second term, he would be 82 years, seven months, and six days old.[4][5][6][7]
Since the early days of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, his physical and mental health have been debated. Trump was 70 years old when he first took office, surpassing Ronald Reagan as the oldest person to assume the presidency.[8] Trump's age, weight, lifestyle, and history of heart disease raised questions about his physical health.[2] Some psychiatrists and reporters have speculated that Trump may have mental health impairments, such as dementia (which runs in his family) or narcissistic personality disorder.[9][10] Such claims have prompted discussion about ethics and applicability of the Goldwater rule, which prohibits mental health professionals from publicly diagnosing or discussing the diagnosis of public figures without their consent and direct examination.[11] Public opinion polling from July 2024 indicated an increase in the percentage of Americans concerned about his fitness for a second term.[12][13]
During the 2024 election campaign, some critics raised concerns regarding former president Trump's transparency about his medical records and overall health, noting that he had not publicly released a full medical report since 2015.[14][15][2] Critics noted that his opponent, Kamala Harris, had released her records, and that such disclosures are a common practice among presidential candidates.[16][17][18] On April 13, 2025, three months after Trump's second inauguration, the White House released the results of his physical examination and his cognitive assessment; it concluded that Trump was in "excellent health" and "fully fit" to serve as commander-in-chief.[19]
Background
Coverage of Trump's mental acuity has generated discussion of whether the media has been "sanewashing" Trump by selecting more coherent clips or quotes from his speeches that give a false impression of mental acuity without balancing that coverage by also focusing on the parts of his speeches that might raise concerns about his mental fitness to be President.[20][21][22][23]
As of 2018[update], Trump does not drink alcohol;[24] this decision arose in part from watching his older brother Fred Jr. suffer from alcoholism that contributed to his early death in 1981.[25][26] He also said that he has never smoked cigarettes or consumed drugs, including marijuana.[27]
2016 presidential campaign (2015–2016)
In December 2015, Trump's personal physician, Harold Bornstein, released a letter praising Trump for "extraordinary physical strength and stamina". The letter asserted that Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency" and said that a recent medical exam yielded "only positive results".[28] Before Bornstein's death in 2021, he told CNN that Trump had dictated the entire letter.[2][29] The language used was in Trump's style and not that typical of a medical doctor; in particular, the American journalist Kurt Eichenwald noted that positive test results often do not mean a positive (favorable) outcome for the patient.[30] A follow-up medical report by Bornstein claimed Trump's blood pressure, liver and thyroid functions to be in normal ranges, and that he takes a statin. At 6feet 3inches (1.90m) and 236 pounds (107kg), Trump's body mass index of 29.5 registered as overweight which is on the higher end of overweight BMIs.[31][32][33]
During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, presidential candidate and primary opponent Jeb Bush speculated in February 2016 that Trump had mental health issues, stating, "I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but the guy needs therapy."[34][35]
First presidency and 2020 presidential campaign (2017–2020)
2017
The "Duty to Warn" movement was founded by medical professionals concerned about Trump's cognitive health in his first year in office.[36]
In 2017, psychologist John Gartner collected more than 41,000 signatures of mental health professionals on a petition, directed to then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.[40][41] The petition asserted that Trump suffered from a serious mental illness and was "psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties" of the presidency. Gartner asserted that Trump's mental handicaps are a mix of narcissism, paranoia, sociopathy, and sadism.[40]
In February 2017, psychiatrist Allen Frances wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times regarding Trump and narcissistic personality disorder. Frances said, "I wrote the criteria that define this disorder, and Mr. Trump doesn't meet them."[42][43] According to the American Psychiatric Association, "saying that a person does not have an illness is also a professional opinion."[44]
On April 14, 2017, Representatives Jamie Raskin and Earl Blumenauer introduced the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act.[45] The bill, if passed, would have allowed Congress, by a concurrent resolution, to require an 11-member commission to conduct an examination of the president and report the findings.[46][47]
In April 2017, forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee hosted a meeting at Yale University medical school regarding the ethics of discussing Trump's mental health.[48][49] In October 2017, Lee published The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, containing essays from 27 psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals on the "clear and present danger" that Trump's mental health poses to the "nation and individual well being". They argued that the president's issues affected the mental health of the United States population,[50] and that he placed the country at grave risk of war because of his pathological traits.[51] They asserted that Trump exhibited narcissistic personality disorder, 'extreme present hedonism' and bullying.[10]Carlos Lozada, writing for The Washington Post, considered these conclusions "compelling", but also noted that the book contributors were writing from their own political perspectives and that other mental health professionals held differing views.[10] Lee and others contended that Trump's presidency represented an emergency allowing, or even requiring, psychiatrists to make an exception to the APA's Goldwater rule, which holds that it is unethical for members of the APA to give professional opinions about public figures without having examined them in person and without having obtained their consent.[52][51] Proponents of such an exception have asserted that there is precedent in allowing psychiatrists to speak out when someone presents a clear and present danger.[10]
In September 2017, Jeanne Suk Gerson wrote in The New Yorker, "A strange consensus does appear to be forming around Trump's mental state", including Democrats and Republicans who doubt Trump's fitness for office.[51]
Also in September 2017, journalist Bill Moyers interviewed psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and said that Trump "makes increasingly bizarre statements that are contradicted by irrefutable evidence to the contrary". Lifton replied, "He doesn't have clear contact with reality, though I'm not sure it qualifies as a bona fidedelusion." As an example, Lifton said, when Trump claimed that former president Barack Obama was born in Kenya, "he was manipulating that lie as well as undoubtedly believing it in part."[53]
In September 2017, psychiatrist Jeffrey A. Lieberman published an article commenting on Donald Trump's mental health. He pointed out that as per Goldwater rule, no diagnosis should be made of public figures, but also stated that assessing the president's fitness to government should not be left to politicians alone. He arrived at a diagnosis of "incipient dementia"[54] but faced no sanctions.[55]
2018
In 2018, Trump dismissed then-prevalent questions regarding his mental health, stating that he is a "very stable genius".[56] As evidence of his mental capacities, he pointed to his business success, his victory over Republican competitors, and his election to the presidency against Hillary Clinton.[57] Trump has also pushed back on claims he couldn't remember the name of a fallen soldier while talking to the widow by stating he has "one of the great memories of all time".[58]
In January 2018, Trump was examined by White House physician Ronny Jackson, who stated that he was in excellent health, although his weight and cholesterol level were higher than recommended,[24] and that his cardiac assessment revealed no medical issues.[59] Several independent cardiologists commented that Trump's weight, lifestyle and LDL cholesterol ought to have raised serious concerns about his cardiac health.[60] Trump's 2018 coronary CT calcium scan score indicates he has a form of heart disease called coronary artery disease, which is common for white males at his age.[61]
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the "Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times". Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
In January 2018, after North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and Trump publicly exchanged claims about their respective "nuclear buttons", Richard Painter, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, deemed Trump "psychologically unfit" and supported transferring his powers to Vice President Mike Pence under the 25th Amendment.[56] In April 2018, Vanity Fair reported that Trump's advisers "worry about his mental health" when he is outside the controls available in the White House environment.[63]
In response to speculation about his cognitive abilities, Trump voluntarily took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as part of his January 2018 health checkup. He reported receiving a score of 30/30, indicating a normal level of cognitive function, although the results have not been released.[2] Critics have contended that the MoCA test is too basic to diagnose the problems asserted.[64][65] Trump used the phrase "Person, woman, man, camera, TV" several times during a July 2020 Fox News interview with Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at New York University,[66][67] while describing part of the 2018 MoCA test and praising his own performance on it.[68] Trump has not publicly revealed the results of any subsequent cognitive tests but, as late as 2024, continued to praise his performance in the 2018 cognitive test.[69]Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the test, noted that 2018 results would be too outdated to be relevant in 2024.[2]
In 2019, amid continued speculation, the American Psychiatric Association and Alzheimer's Society requested that professionals other than Trump's doctors adhere to the Goldwater Rule and refrain from giving armchair diagnoses of Trump.[71][72] A growing number of individuals in academia have continued to call for a relaxation of the Goldwater rule.[70]
In February 2019, Trump was examined by White House physician Sean Conley. Conley stated Trump was in "very good health overall", although Trump was now slightly clinically obese, at 243 pounds (110kg) with a BMI of 30.4.[73]
In a July 4, 2019, speech, Trump said that during the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army "took over the airports" from the British (airplanes were not invented until 1903).[74]
Trump appeared unsteady while walking down a ramp at the United States Air Force Academy on June 15, 2020. He also had difficulty raising a glass of water to his mouth. These episodes raised questions about his health.[77]
Trump later traveled in Air Force One to a rally at the Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, which was attended by thousands.[80] After Trump's diagnosis was made public, Pennsylvania health officials advised attendees to participate in the state's contact tracing program.[81]
After returning from Bedminster, Trump received a positive test result[82] on a rapid test and was waiting to get results of a PCR test when he did a live phone interview on Hannity.[83] On October 2, 2020, Trump tweeted that he and his wife Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19,[84][85] part of a White House outbreak.[86][87] Later that day, Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,[88] reportedly due to fever and labored breathing. He was treated with antivirals, an experimental antibody drug (REGN-COV2[89]), and a steroid. He returned to the White House on October 5, still infectious and unwell.[86][90] In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious than he had previously indicated; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of COVID-19.[90]
Between presidencies and 2024 presidential campaign (2021–2024)
2021–2023
In 2022, MSNBC described Trump as "notoriously secretive about sharing his health records with the public" and "deliberately misleading and even dishonest about his health".[15]
In an incident in October 2023, Trump referred to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán as "the leader of Turkey", and said that Orbán shares a border with Russia, which neither Turkey nor Hungary does.[91]
2024
A political cartoon published during the 2024 election cycle, highlighting claims of Trump's poor health by alleging that his campaign was a ploy by entrepreneur and Republican donor Peter Thiel to elevate JD Vance to the presidency via Trump's death in office or incapacitation.
During his 2024 campaign, polls generally showed that a majority of Americans believed that Trump was too old to serve as president.[14] A February 2024 Ipsos poll finding that Joe Biden's age and health were major or moderate concerns for 86% of voters also found that 59% similarly thought Trump was too old to hold the office.[13]
During the course of the 2024 primary campaign, Trump made several gaffes, including confusing Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi, claiming he was running against Barack Obama (the Democratic candidate at the time was Joe Biden), and fearing the nation may enter World War II.[92]
A shift in Trump's speeches by 2024 towards shorter sentences, more tangents, more repetition, more all-or-nothing thinking and more confusion of words and phrases could indicate cognitive decline.[93][9][94][2] Basil Smikle of Columbia University argued in January 2024 that one reason Trump has not seen as much of the age criticism as Biden is that his rallies seem loud and vibrant, whereas Biden has a more old-school approach to politics.[36]
In January 2024, Dr. Jay Olshansky gave Donald Trump less than a 75% chance of living through a second term based on publicly available information about his health.[95][96] Also in January 2024, red spots or sores were spotted on Donald Trump's hands.[97][98]
On June 14, 2024, Trump said that his longtime acquaintance Joan Rivers had told him that she had voted for him in the 2016 election, although Rivers had died in September 2014.[99]
A few days later, on June 16, 2024, while praising his own performance on a cognitive test administered in 2018, Trump "confused the name of his former White House physician" who had administered the test.[69]
A July 2024 poll, taken shortly after the first presidential debate, found that 60% of voters saw Trump as too old for a second term.[12] This represented a steady and constant increase in voters polled by this pollster sharing this concern, and paralleled the progression of the larger number of voters who had the same concern about Biden.[12]
According to the FBI, Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel,[104] and injured in his upper right ear.[105] He raised a hand to his ear before dropping down on his podium behind the lectern for cover.[106][107][108][109] Secret Service agents lunged toward Trump and shielded him. After the assailant was declared "down", agents helped Trump get up. Blood was visible on his ear and face. He asked the Secret Service agents to let him get his shoes.[110] According to Trump, the agents "hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight."[111] As of October 12, 2024, none of the medical records pertaining to his wounds had been released.[112]
In July 2024, psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones of Trinity College Dublin said in The Conversation that "the potential effect of the attempted assassination of Trump upon Trump's mental health–whether negligible, negative or positive–cannot be ignored". McCarthy-Jones stated that Trump being an extrovert might improve his ability to deal with the psychological impact of the event. However, he also asserted that "other personality traits, including low agreeableness, low conscientiousness and low emotional stability, also attributed to Trump, are associated with greater levels of PTSD", as are "high levels of narcissism", which can also "cause people to react to even limited threats with aggression".[113] On July 22, 2024, the Washington Post reported interviews with medical experts who believed Trump likely has an elevated genetic risk of dementia.[4] Nephew Fred Trump III has asserted that he sees signs of the dementia that he saw in Trump's father, Fred Trump Sr.[114] Fred Trump Sr. was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in October 1991, at the age of 86, eight years before he died.[114]
In August 2024, Vanity Fair reported that Trump was in fact "experiencing trauma from his near-death experience"; a campaign insider reportedly claimed that Trump was "watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head–over and over and over again".[115]
An August 2024 Morning Consult poll found that the number of respondents who thought Trump was too old to run jumped by seven percent, to 51%, from their previous poll once Trump's opponent changed from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, and the number of respondents who thought Trump was in good health correspondingly fell by six percent.[116][117] The poll further reported that nearly 80% of respondents "were unsure he'd be up for serving a full second term".[116] A Marquette University poll released the same day reported that 57% of respondents felt that Trump was too old.[94]
In September 2024, Trump said the audience "went crazy" for him at the presidential debate the preceding week, although the debate had no audience.[118][14]
On October 6, 2024, The New York Times reported that Trump had maintained a far less active campaign schedule in 2024 than he did in 2016; the report added that Trump had held only 61 rallies to that point in 2024 compared with 283 through all of 2016. In this same report, they analyzed Trump's speeches, writing, "with the passage of time, the 78-year-old former president's speeches have grown darker, harsher, longer, angrier, less focused, more profane and increasingly fixated on the past, according to a review of his public appearances over the years." The paper commented that Trump has lately seemed "confused, forgetful, incoherent or disconnected from reality" but that it does not get covered much because it is so common. It highlighted an average rally length of 82 minutes compared with 45 minutes in 2016, and a 13% increase in use of all-or-nothing terms such as "always" and "never". It also found 32% more negative words than positive words compared with 21% in 2016, and a 69% increase in swear words. It cited experts who considered this increase in tangential speech and behavioral disinhibition the potential result of advancing age and cognitive decline.[14]
As of October 12, 2024, Trump had declined to release health information going back to 2015 when he first started running for president, despite a promise he made in August 2024 to release records from a recent examination.[16][17] Releasing detailed medical reports is typical of presidential candidates.[18]
Second presidency (2025–)
2025
Between December 2024 and March 2025, bruises were spotted on multiple occasions on Trump's hands, which generated speculation about his health.[119][120][121]
In July 2025, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stated that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency. Trump's physician, Sean Barbabella, wrote in a statement that bruising on Trump's right hand was attributed to his use of aspirin and frequent hand-shaking.[125] However, it was later noted that vascular tests confirmed that Trump in fact had swelling in his legs at the time of his diagnosis.[126]
Large bruises appeared on Trump's hands in August 2025, and on August 27, Vice President JD Vance stated that he was ready to become president; this led to widespread speculation that Trump was seriously ill or dead. On August 30, the phrase "Trump is Dead" trended on Twitter.[127][128][129][130] That day, he was seen leaving for golf,[131][132] but a photo which Trump shared of himself golfing with Jon Gruden on August 31 was determined to have potentially been taken on August 23, fueling further speculation of ongoing health concerns.[133][134][135] August additionally saw increased discussions about his mental health.[136] A photograph of Trump leaving the White House on September 1 confirmed he was still alive, but led to even more speculation about his health due to seeming changes in his appearance.[137] Conspiracy theories alleging that Trump suffered an ischemic stroke grew following the photos' release; Trump pushed back against claims of ill health, asserting that he "never felt better in [his] life" in an all-caps Truth Social post.[138] On September 11, during a 9/11 commemoration at the Pentagon, the right side of Trump's face appeared to droop down heavily, once again sparking concerns of a stroke.[139]
↑ "Part 2: Donald Trump on 'Watters' World'". Watters' World. Fox News Channel. February 6, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016. WATTERS: "Have you ever smoked weed?" TRUMP: "No, I have not. I have not. I would tell you 100 percent because everyone else seems to admit it nowadays, so I would actually tell you. This is almost like, it's almost like 'Hey, it's a sign'. No, I have never. I have never smoked a cigarette, either."
↑ "Heart attacks, strokes, dementia—can Biden and Trump beat the odds?". The Economist. January 9, 2024. ISSN0013-0613. Retrieved August 19, 2024. Dr Olshansky stated on January 7th, in an article in the Hill, a Washington-based newspaper, that, 'Today his [Mr Biden's] chances of surviving through a second term in office are close to 75% (about 10% better survival than for an average man his age). Similar, although slightly less favourable survival prospects are present for Trump.'
↑ Ashley Soebroto (August 30, 2025). "Social media speculated that President Trump was dead. It's not true". Houston Chronicle. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 1, 2025. Reports also were fueled by an interview Wednesday with USA Today in which Vice President JD Vance said that although the 79-year-old president was in good health, he was prepared to take over the role of commander in chief should a 'terrible tragedy' strike. 'Yes, terrible tragedies happen,' Vance said to USA Today. 'But I feel very confident the president of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people. And if, God forbid, there's a terrible tragedy, I can't think of better on-the-job training than what I've gotten over the last 200 days.'
↑ Ty Roush (August 30, 2025). "'Is Trump Dead?' Rumors Debunked As Trump Seen Leaving For Golf". Forbes. Retrieved September 1, 2025. President Donald Trump on Saturday was photographed leaving for his golf course in Virginia, dispelling unfounded rumors spread on social media that Trump had died in recent days after not being seen publicly.
Chris Truax (August 1, 2025). "Trump's mental decline is undeniable — so what now?". The Hill. Retrieved September 1, 2025. (...) If you aren't comfortable with labeling this as dementia, that's fine. But there is no question that the president — the man tasked with making critical life and death decisions for both the country and the world — is struggling with mathematical concepts, has vivid "memories" that are not rooted in reality and has an increasingly foggy grasp of past events that did happen. That's not a medical diagnosis. These are facts we can see for ourselves and we all know, even those of us who voted for Trump three times, that this can't be allowed to continue. (...)
Harry Mok (August 7, 2025). "Is Trump getting a pass on his mental decline?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 1, 2025. How should journalists do their jobs when there are suspicions or signs that presidents and other elected officials are losing it? That's what UC Berkeley journalism professor Edward Wasserman focuses on in his Open Forum on Thursday.
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