U.S. President Donald Trump attends a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States at the Pentagon, in Washington D.C., U.S., September 11, 2025. REUTERSEvelyn Hockstein
One prominent medical doctor is now claiming that President Donald Trump suffered a stroke several months ago and that his administration is refusing to disclose it to the public.
The Daily Beast reported Thursday that Dr. Bruce Davidson – who is a professor at Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine — listed "lines of evidence" backing up his assertion that the 79 year-old president experienced the event "six months ago or more."
"I think his stroke was on the left side of the brain, which controls the right side of the body," Davidson said on the "Court of History" podcast hosted by author Sidney Blumenthal and Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.
"There are videos of him shuffling his feet, which is not what we’d seen previously when he was striding on the golf course," he continued. "We’ve seen him holding his right hand cradled in his left. Earlier in 2025, he was garbling words, which he hadn’t done before and which he’s improved upon more recently."
According to Davidson, Trump's "marked episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness" is a common trait among people who have suffered a stroke, and pointed to the numerous examples of Trump falling asleep in full view of the public. The physician also said Trump gripping the railing with his left hand while descending the steps of Air Force One despite being right-handed is "consistent with having had a stroke on the left side of the brain."
Davidson acknowledged that despite his theory that Trump had a stroke in 2025, he's displayed "significant recovery" since then given that he's not slurring his speech and shuffling his feet as much.
While White House physicians have not yet publicly said anything about Trump having had a stroke, doctors did announce in 2025 that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), which causes blood to pool in the lower extremities. While CVI isn't fatal, it can cause problems like swollen ankles. Trump has also been seen in public with large bruises on his hands, which the White House has attributed to the president's above-average use of aspirin and hand-shaking.
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