Trump reaches 80 with health scrutiny intensifying fast

Trump poised – As President Donald Trump prepares to turn 80, scrutiny over his fitness and health has grown—spurred by footage of him appearing to close his eyes during a December Cabinet meeting, public debate over his physical condition, and polling showing many Americans

When President Donald Trump turned his eyes away during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2—appearing to close them for stretches—he didn’t treat the moment like a passing glitch. Soon after footage circulated, Trump moved to stop the story before it solidified.

At his next gathering with Cabinet officials, he offered an explanation. He said he had shut his eyes because the previous meeting was “boring,” adding, “I didn’t sleep, I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell out of here.” He also told officials, “I don’t sleep much.”

The incident landed as Trump, in his second term, is increasingly pressed on a question he once aimed at Joe Biden: fitness for office.

Trump’s fast-approaching 80th birthday on June 14 will make him the second president after Biden to reach that age. joining an older White House club that was shaped by the president he has repeatedly ridiculed. Biden. facing pressure from leaders in his own party not to seek reelection. ultimately dropped out of the 2024 race amid concerns about his age and mental acuity. That controversy helped drive a national debate about aging and leadership—and now Trump is walking into the same spotlight. with new questions aimed at his own health.

Those questions have ranged from visible physical concerns to reports of behavior critics interpret as drowsiness. They also extend into broader concerns about judgment, as polls increasingly reflect Americans’ doubts.

A public debate that Trump expected to avoid

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos survey from April found that 55% of U.S. adults do not believe Trump is in “good enough physical health to serve effectively as president,” up from 28% in 2023. Nearly 6 in 10 also do not believe he “has the mental sharpness” required for the job.

Trump’s defenders have pushed back firmly. The president’s doctor has said Trump is “fully fit” for office. and White House spokesman Davis Ingle described Trump’s energy as “unmatched.” Ingle said: “President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises. and he remains in excellent health.”.

Even for an octogenarian. though. the debate has intensified because Trump’s age is not merely a number—it is paired with a pattern of scrutiny. He has exceeded, by three and a half years, the average lifespan for an American man. Still. medical research and public life intersect: Steven Austad. a professor at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and an expert on aging. said that while about half of men now live into their 80s. wealthier and better-educated people tend to live longer.

Austad pointed to the kind of question that keeps aging politics stuck on the surface: “80 isn’t what it used to be,” he said. “The question is: What kind of 80-year-old are you?”

Trump has tried to answer that question in the language of vigor. His political pitch has leaned on stamina, and he has regularly boasted that he “aced” his cognitive exams. Last month. after a physical. he said “everything checked out perfectly.” He has also highlighted how he appears to stay active—through a busy schedule of public events. travel. late-night posts on his Truth Social site. and regular interactions with the media.

Sean Spicer. who served as White House press secretary during Trump’s first term. argued that Trump’s pace is hard to ignore. “I think most people would kill to be as active as he is at a fraction of his age. ” Spicer said. “I mean. I’m in my 50s. and I kind of get a kick out of the fact that I’m in bed hours before he stops truthing.”.

Inside the White House, there is also insistence that Trump’s birthday is not treated like an occasion. A White House official said the president does not talk about his birthday. which Kevin McCarthy—then the former GOP House speaker—said has been Trump’s style for years. “All the time I’ve known him. when it comes to his birthday. he really doesn’t like to celebrate. ” McCarthy said. “It’s just his style.”.

This year, Trump is staging an Ultimate Fighting Championship contest at the White House on his birthday. The White House official said it was about timing, not a birthday concept.

Gwenda Blair, Trump’s biographer, sees sharper intent in the broader choice of pageantry. She said brute force staged on a day when Trump’s advanced age will be in the spotlight will project “total strength.”

Health questions that keep returning

Trump’s supporters may describe the scrutiny as political theater. But in his second term, the concerns have continued to gather around physical symptoms and moments that critics characterize as signs of diminished stamina.

Last year, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a benign condition that causes swelling in his lower legs. The White House doctor noted the condition is common in people over 70.

Trump has also experienced bruising on his hands, and his physician attributed it to aspirin—an anti-inflammatory drug commonly taken as a blood thinner—combined with regular handshaking.

Then there is the issue that flared into the December Cabinet meeting controversy: stamina under scrutiny because Trump sometimes closes his eyes for stretches while others are speaking at public events. Rep. Ted Lieu. D-California. said June 3 during a congressional hearing where he questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the December Cabinet meeting. “Donald Trump’s inability to stay awake on the job shows that there’s something very wrong with his health and cognitive abilities.”.

Rubio responded directly. “I’ve never seen him fall asleep,” he said. “On the contrary, the guy doesn’t sleep.”

Other medical and lifestyle comments have also landed in the debate. The president is close to being clinically obese based on measurements from his most recent physical. and he has expressed disdain for exercise other than golf. calling it “boring.” He has joked that he works out “about one minute a day. max. If I’m lucky.”.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Trump eats “really bad food,” pointing to the president’s consumption of McDonald’s, candy, and Diet Coke. Kennedy said in a podcast interview: “He has the constitution of a deity. I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is.”

Trump’s doctor recommended exercise and weight loss. Still, Capt. Sean Barbabella. the White House physician. wrote in summarizing the results of last month’s physical that Trump’s “cognitive and physical performance are excellent. ” adding that “he is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”.

The frequency of medical checkups is another reason the story won’t go away. Trump has undergone four medical checkups in 13 months. prompting questions about why the visits are frequent and what tests doctors are performing. Lieu asked that question at the June 3 hearing. saying. “There’s a reason he keeps going to the hospital and they keep giving him cognitive tests.”.

Mehmet Oz. a doctor who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs. said reporters on June 2 that Trump keeps getting checkups because “he likes the results.” Oz added: “I do actually believe that he’s curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction. ” and called Trump “a very meticulous person.” Oz also called the results “spectacular” after holding up a copy of the doctor’s report summarizing Trump’s medical exam.

“That amount of energy, that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum,” Oz said. “You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the president has the unique ability to just keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength.”

A question of erratic behavior—shaped by both age and politics

As people age, concerns often shift from whether a person can function today to whether their decision-making could falter tomorrow. Austad described that risk with blunt clarity, saying convention says aging brings wisdom—but after a point that doesn’t hold.

“The conventional wisdom … is that aging brings wisdom, but after a certain point that’s no longer true,” Austad said. “That’s why con men go after older people.”

A Reuters/Ipsos survey found 61% of Americans believe Trump has “become erratic with age,” and only 45% believe he is “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges.”

In Congress, Democrats have seized on moments that they say signal danger in how Trump chooses to communicate and act—especially when it comes to foreign policy.

Among the most alarming examples cited is Trump’s April posting threatening Iran’s entire “civilization” while pressing the regime in Tehran to submit to U.S. demands. “A whole civilization will die tonight. never to be brought back again. ” Trump posted on social media in April. shortly before announcing a ceasefire.

Democrats later introduced legislation to create a commission to assess Trump’s fitness for office and recommend whether to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Some MAGA media figures have also suggested using the 25th Amendment. which establishes a process for removing a president from office.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said in a statement on the bill, “We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress . . . to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation.”

Raskin also cited Trump’s feud with the pope and the fact that Trump posted a Christ-like image of himself online. The episode of late-night social media posting sprees became part of the broader debate after AI-generated images drew backlash.

Two of those posts—the Christ-like image and a video Trump posted depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes—were deleted after backlash. Critics pointed to the incidents as evidence of judgment problems. Supporters have countered that the same round-the-clock use of social media can be interpreted as tirelessness.

Even surveys show the debate is split by party. Whit Ayers, a Republican pollster, said perceptions of Trump’s health and mental fitness are colored by partisan views. He said the Reuters/Ipsos survey found 89% of Democrats believe Trump has become erratic with age. while only 30% of Republicans say the same.

“The answer to that question is much more a reflection of what people think about Donald Trump than what they think about age,” Ayers said.

Doctors’ reports may not settle the argument, either. Austad suspects “nobody believes” presidential health reports, saying presidential administrations have long shielded negative health information from the public.

Still, he suggested people will make their own judgments. “We get to see him a lot, we get to hear him a lot and my thought is people can sort of judge for themselves,” Austad said.

At the same time, Austad argued that the risks of having a president in his 80s remain—because even when high-functioning, aging can lead to decline quickly, potentially impairing judgment.

He said after two successive presidents in their 80s. the country could be “ripe for a ‘national conversation’ on presidential age limits” when Trump leaves office. He framed the idea with a tension he has tried to keep intact: “I’m very much against ageism. but there’s also realism. ” Austad said. “Whatever you think about Trump’s performance in office to date, it could be vastly different a month from now.”.

That is the pressure line Trump is stepping toward—an 80th birthday that is less about the calendar than about what Americans believe they’ve already seen.

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