HOW BAD IS TRUMP'S HEALTH?

Late Saturday afternoon, within the space of twenty-eight minutes, Donald Trump posted these three images on Truth Social:

Trump's Truth Social feed generally includes attacks on political enemies, promotions of pet Trump projects, and hyperbolic proclamations of his own magnificence -- but these posts seem different. They seem like Trump's attempts to persuade Americans -- and himself -- that he's supernaturally healthy, as if he's concerned that Americans won't believe he is ... or as if he doesn't believe he is.

I think Trump is self-soothing here. I think he's lying to himself.

As The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire notes, Trump has been under quite a bit of medical scrutiny lately:

The White House announced this week that Trump will undergo a medical and dental checkup on May 26, which will be his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s visit in his second term. (He has also had two dental visits in Florida.) Last year he had an annual physical in April 2025, and then what the White House described as a “routine yearly checkup” in October. Across his terms, Trump has bragged repeatedly about acing multiple cognitive tests, a boast that only raises more questions.

On those dental visits, HuffPost notes:

The White House has its own dental suite. Which raises the question of why Trump would schedule routine appointments elsewhere if they’re actually routine.

Lemire wonders why we're not focusing on Trump's apparent frailty the way we focused on Joe Biden's. I know many of you think it's because the media hates Democrats and protects Republicans. I think the media feels it displays its independence when it attacks Democrats and shows its lack of bias when it cossets Republicans, and I think that's part of the problem. But I think Lemire is close to the truth here:

... as Trump himself grows older—traveling less, switching to more comfortable shoes, and seeming to nod off during meetings—his age isn’t getting the same kind of scrutiny.

I have long thought that a reason for that is the president’s sheer size. Trump stands 6 foot 3 and, according to his most recent physical, weighs 224 pounds (yes, questioning that number is a legitimate thing to do). He is a big presence in any room, as opposed to Biden, who grew visibly thinner as he got older, adding to the appearance of frailty. Trump is also LOUD; Biden’s voice was frequently reduced to a gentle whisper. And Trump has the gift of omnipresence. His genius is in capturing attention. Biden’s public schedule grew sparse, and he actively avoided generating news; Trump holds multiple events in front of the press nearly every day. He fills Americans’ TV screens and social-media feeds seemingly nonstop, with an almost-unspoken message: How could he be fading if he’s everywhere?

I think it's not just that Trump is bulky and loud, while Biden increasingly seemed thin and whispery. I think it's also the fact that Biden struggled to finish some of his sentences, and Trump just plows on. As I wrote just after the 2024 election:

... Joe Biden ... frequently stops speaking while he gropes for the right word or phrase. Trump just keeps going until his sentences and anecdotes end somewhere, then he looks pleased with himself and moves on. I think millions of people think he sounds like a normal guy on a talking jag, not like a dementia patient....

And Trump's sentences frequently end with him hurting people. Decent Americans (as opposed to Republican voters) find that repellent, but it's still a power. What we notice -- and this, of course, shows up in his deeds as well as his words -- is that Trump clearly retains the power to cause pain.

Here's a recent example:



He's asked, “Mr. President, you are here against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Why focus on all these projects right now? We're still seeing gas prices soaring.” He snaps back:

We're fixing up the reflecting pond to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and you say, "Why are you fixing it up?" Because you can understand dirt maybe better than I can, but I don't allow it.

This is one of the worst reporters. She's with ABC fake news and she's a horror show. She's saying, "Why would you bother fixing this up?" Why would I bother taking eleven or twelve truckloads of filth out of the water in front of the Lincoln Monument? That's what made our country great. Beauty made our country. People made our country great. A question like that is a disgrace to our country. Any other questions?

Beauty made our country great? This makes no sense! What does it even mean?

But the words just keep coming, and a person who doesn't think very hard about what Trump is saying can come away with the impression that the reporter (a Black woman, of course) really must be unpatriotic and have an unacceptable tolerance for "dirt" and "filth."

This isn't a thoughtful repsonse, but it still stings. I'll believe he's really losing it when he launches into one of these attacks and freezes up, unable to summon up the next nasty word he wants to say. I look forward to that the day, the day he tries to slip the verbal shiv in but can't manage to do it. I hope it happens.

Maybe he's experiencing some form of dementia. But for now, his words, even when they're incoherent, have power. And that's primarily why he's not judged the way Biden was, even though he's probably in terrible physical health, and he knows it.