U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., May 20, 2026.
President Donald Trump’s doctors and the White House might try to sell the argument that the president’s is at the peak of health and freshness, but the human eyes tells a different story. And however loud Trump may make his staff shout his vitality to the heavens, the president himself knows he just had a birthday, says Trump veteran biographer Michael Wolff. And that birthday did not come with a small number.
In the latest episode of his podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," Wolff and co-host Joanna Coles discussed the shadow of death Trump inevitably feels creeping closer after the spate of recent celebrity deaths.
“Well, [singer] Dolly Parton passed, as did [actor] Tim Curry. Also 80. What do they have in common with the president,” Cole asked Wolff.
“Eighty is a seriously mortal moment,” said Wolff a longtime journalist and author, best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books about his first term based on purported insider sources. “You’re in your 80s. This is your 9th decade.”
“Do you think he felt a tiny bit more fragile after Dolly Parton died?” Cole pressed.
“I’m absolutely sure he did. When I see people who are my age who go down I register it. I think everybody does,” answered Wolff, being mindful of his own age. “And just to point out. Everybody does, but in particular a 300lb pound man who stuffs himself with poison and who hasn’t done a lick of exercise ever might have an even more immediate reaction to other people’s mortality at his age.”
Trump appears to be suffering from a notable decline in his neurological condition, according to one clinical psychologist, who highlighted as evidence the "strange and unusual" tic that he cannot seem to control, among other seeming symptoms. Dr. John Paul Garrison, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in body language, discovered a distinct spasm on one side, possibly indicative of a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's or Lewy body dementia.
Other reporters and experts have flagged Trump’s bruising, his swelling and the disturbing secrecy the White House puts around his health. There has been significant discussion of Trump’s fitness for office over the past year due to a combination of his frequent, secretive hospital visits
New York Times Journalist Maggie Haberman – co-author of a bombshell book that exposed the Trump administration’s dirty secrets – delivered a brutally honest assessment of Trump’s physical and mental state. After detailing a series of issues with Trump’s fitness, she argued that his allies are “not transparent about his health.”