President Trump closed his eyes and appeared to nod off while seated in a suite at an NBA Finals game in New York City this week, cameras captured, as he snacked on french fries and pizza. He returned to the White House after 2 a.m. The next morning by 10 a.m., he offered a lengthy critique of a recent Wall Street Journal editorial to a reporter who called him on his cellphone, said the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz “wasn’t a big deal,” and hours later ordered strikes on Iran.
The episode encapsulates the central tension of Trump’s approach to his 80th birthday on Sunday: a strategic effort by the president and his advisers to turn him into an omnipresent figure in American life, drawing a contrast with his octogenarian predecessor, Joe Biden — while cameras also zoom in on his bruised hands, stooped posture, closed eyes, and occasional verbal misstatements.
The White House disputed reports that Trump fell asleep at the game, saying the camera angle was misleading, and attributed bruising on his hands to frequent handshaking. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump proves his fitness for office by taking questions from reporters and maintaining what she called a “relentless schedule.” Leavitt provided a list of the past two weeks of meetings showing an average of more than two dozen calendar entries per weekday, including calls and meetings with business leaders, advisers and Cabinet secretaries.
In question-and-answer sessions that sometimes last more than 30 minutes, the president spars with reporters, delivering one-liners that ripple across cable news and the internet. But he has also tripped over words and confused details, referring to Greenland as Iceland and calling the Strait of Hormuz the “Strait of Iran.” He has mixed up recent conflicts in South America and the Middle East.
Trump is the oldest man to become president — taking the oath of office for the second time at age 78 years and seven months. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that his hearing has deteriorated, his skin is delicate, and he has resisted common treatments for swelling in his legs. Between his last two annual physicals, he gained 14 pounds.
Rep. Ryan Zinke (R., Mont.) told the Journal that Trump has slowed. “This job ages you,” Zinke said. “His pace isn’t as it once was.” He compared Trump to a football player, saying he has gone from a 4.1-second 40-yard dash to a 4.3-second run. “He’s still fast compared to every human on Earth,” Zinke said.
Some Democrats have begun focusing on signs of aging, particularly a spate of videos showing the president with his eyes closed at meetings. Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) raised the concerns during a recent congressional hearing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, playing a video from a Cabinet meeting in which Trump appeared to nod off as Rubio spoke. “Imagine what he’s like when the cameras are not there,” Lieu said. Rubio disputed that Trump was dozing, calling Lieu’s concerns “absurd and ridiculous.” Trump, he said, “works day and night, long hours, every single day.”
Leavitt pushed back on Lieu’s criticism, saying Democrats had no credibility after backing Biden for most of his term even as he declined in office. “The Democrat coverup of Joe Biden’s decline remains one of the worst political scandals in modern American history,” Leavitt said. “President Trump and the White House have nothing to hide.”
Biden, born in 1942, sought a second term that would have kept him in office until age 86. After a party revolt following his June 2024 debate performance, he dropped out of the race. Shortly after leaving office, Biden was diagnosed with an advanced form of prostate cancer. Trump recently called Biden “the worst thing to ever happen to old people.”
Trump has used an array of strategies to discuss his own aging, ranging from candor to denial. “I used to say, ‘I’m the youngest in the room,’” Trump told an audience earlier this year at Davos. “Now I’m among the older. I hate to say it. I don’t feel old.” He told a group of retirees at the Villages in Florida last month, “I don’t happen to be a senior — I’m much younger than you,” and said, “Wouldn’t you like to be my age? It’s young, vital, vibrant.” He has technically been a senior citizen since turning 65 during Barack Obama’s first term.
The president is open about his fears of showing frailty, occasionally riffing about the negative attention he would get if he stumbled on stairs. “I’m very careful when I walk, by the way, because if I ever fall … that headline will go on for years,” Trump said at a recent Rose Garden event. That concern was visible during a recent trip to Beijing