A prominent American physician has made a striking claim about President Donald Trump’s health, reigniting an already intense national conversation that has followed the president throughout his return to office.
Since reclaiming the Oval Office in January 2025, Trump has held the distinction of being the oldest serving president in US history, a fact that has placed unprecedented focus on his physical and cognitive condition.
Throughout 2025, questions surrounding Trump’s health have steadily grown louder. Critics and medical experts alike have pointed to limited transparency from the White House, inconsistent messaging, and long gaps between official medical updates. While the administration has repeatedly assured the public that the president is in “excellent health,” those reassurances have done little to quiet speculation.
Concerns reached a new level in September, when Trump vanished from the public eye for several days. No official appearances were scheduled, and the White House offered minimal explanation for his absence. The silence fueled online rumors and prompted renewed calls for a comprehensive medical disclosure.
Adding to the unease were photographs showing visible bruising on the president’s hand during public appearances. Observers noted that aides appeared to make deliberate efforts to obscure the marks, intensifying suspicions about an underlying medical issue.
Around the same time, multiple video clips circulated on social media appearing to show Trump briefly closing his eyes during high-level meetings, leading some commentators to question whether he had fallen asleep.
Despite these incidents, Trump and his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, have consistently dismissed concerns. Leavitt has described the 79-year-old president as “energetic, sharp, and fully capable of meeting the demands of the office,” while Trump himself has mocked critics for questioning his stamina.
Now, however, a US doctor has added a dramatic new dimension to the debate. Speaking publicly, the physician suggested that the visible signs seen in recent months could point to more significant age-related health challenges than the White House has acknowledged. While stopping short of offering a formal diagnosis without direct access to Trump’s medical records, the doctor argued that the pattern of symptoms “should not be casually dismissed.”
The renewed scrutiny comes as Trump faces backlash over his own recent comments about health. Earlier this week, the president drew widespread criticism after mocking former President Joe Biden during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club. Referring to Biden, who revealed a cancer diagnosis last year, Trump imitated a coughing fit and made disparaging remarks about his former rival’s public appearances. The audience response was notably muted, and social media reaction was swift and harsh.
Many users accused Trump of crossing a moral line. “He didn’t humiliate Biden,” one commenter wrote. “He humiliated himself.” Critics argued that Trump’s remarks were especially inappropriate given the ongoing questions about his own health.
The controversy also revived discussion of Trump’s past actions, including his decision late last year to remove Biden’s official White House portrait and replace it with an image of an autopen accompanied by a scathing caption criticizing Biden’s presidency.
Earlier in 2025, speculation intensified further after Vice President JD Vance publicly stated he was prepared to assume the presidency in the event of a “terrible tragedy,” a remark that raised eyebrows given its timing. In July, the White House confirmed that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a circulatory condition affecting the leg veins. Medical experts emphasized that the condition is common and generally not life-threatening.
Even so, the doctor’s recent comments have ensured that questions about Donald Trump’s health are unlikely to fade anytime soon, especially as the demands of the presidency continue to test the limits of age, endurance, and transparency.