President Donald Trump attends the commencement ceremony at West Point Military Academy in West Point, New York, May 24, 2025. REUTERS Nathan Howard (Left). "Great daughter. My Honor!!! President DJT". Photograph: Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump (Right).
President Donald Trump has exhibited a worrisome months-long "pattern" of memory decline, as highlighted by one professional pathologist, consistently struggling to remember certain people, even ones from his own family.
Hilary Shae is a speech-language pathologist specializing in concussion recovery and treatment. She is also a prolific political creator, sharing numerous professional insights into the potential signs of Trump's cognitive and physical health decline, often theorizing that he is grappling with dementia and has possibly suffered one or more strokes in recent years.
In her latest video from Monday, Shae highlighted the ongoing pattern of Trump "not knowing who people are when he looks at them, or sees pictures of them," starting with a recent Truth Social post in which he shared a photo of a young blonde woman at the Camp David presidential country retreat in Maryland. Trump claimed that the woman was his "daughter," despite the fact that she was neither Ivanka Trump nor Tiffany Trump. Shae also noted that the quality of the photo appeared to suggest it was taken in the "Bill Clinton era," making it even more unlikely that any of Trump's children would be at Camp David.
"There was no connection to say, 'Hmm, I don't think that actually is one of my daughters,'" Shae said. "And again, this is just the most recent time."
Shae further highlighted other instances in which Trump showed similar lapses in memory. When presented with a photo of his abuse accuser, E. Jean Carroll, during a deposition hearing, he claimed under oath that it was his ex-wife and had to be corrected. Trump has also, at times, claimed that his father immigrated to the U.S. from Germany, despite the fact that it was his paternal grandparents who did that.
Shae also noted how, on many occasions, Trump has asked where certain administration officials are, when they were right behind him at the time.
"When you look at it one time, it can be a mistake, it can be an error," Shae added. "When you see it over and over and over again, it becomes a pattern, and this pattern is consistent with declining and progressing dementia, or some other brain disease or disorder."
She continued: "It is not a good sign that in the last couple of months, I have had to make multiple videos of Donald Trump not knowing who he was looking at in either a picture or in real life, and not being able to find that person if it was in real life. It's a problem. Can you imagine if this was your own father and you were in your house and he was looking at a picture, and he said, 'oh, that's my daughter,' and it was his granddaughter? You would be concerned as well."