There was a time when former MAGA Illinois lawmaker Joe Walsh and “Jim Acosta Show” host Jim Acosta may not have seen eye to eye on some things. But on Friday both were thoroughly in accord on the topic of President Donald Trump’s rapidly deteriorating health.

Aside from being increasingly riddled with unexplained bruises to his face and hands, the president of the United States, both said, is tumbling fast. And debilitation is obvious in the way he carries himself, stands, and in the chaos he spouts — be it foul language or inarticulate nonsense.

Walsh said the Trump gobbledygook extends beyond the racist bigotry the president unleashes at rallies against brown and non-Christian Democrats. Because that, he said, is actually sound tactic from Republicans.

“Look, I come from the right and I used to engage in some of that [racist garbage] because that kind of bigoted, fearful [stuff] excites the Republican Party base. And it's horrible to say that, but I know that for a fact. And that's what Trump is doing. That's all he's got left right now is to scare the hell out of his voters that brown and Black people, Muslims, are taking over America. Most Americans are going to reject that, but it's all about him getting his base out, and they still are drawn to that stuff.”

They were quicker to point out Trump’s fascination with fabricated facts and men’s rear ends.

“He's spent a lot of time thinking about what other dudes look like. And, you know, not that there's anything wrong with that, but weird,” said Acosta. “Weird, weird, weird.”

“You, Jim Acosta, are much better than I at laughing at how [stinking] insane he is,” chided Walsh. “I have always had a hard time laughing at Trump because what he does so [infuriates] me. But I listen to a clip like that, and all I can think of is the 25th Amendment. I mean, I don't think we realize he is losing his mind day by day. Every day.”

“No, it's so true. And I mean, you know, he's talking about how his hand hurts. I don't know what he's doing. Maybe that explains the bruises,” quipped Acosta.

Acosta also pointed to Trump countless vanity projects, around D.C., which Acosta referred to as “insanity projects.”

“The way he obsesses over this golf course in D.C., it's exactly what you're saying, Joe. These are sort of like the ramblings of somebody who just ... They just need to not be in charge of the country and in charge of the nuclear codes,” said Acosta. “… The President of the United States should not be focused and obsessed with a golf course. It's totally nuts.”

“This is the difference,” said Walsh. “In that first term, the one constant in Trump's life — the only thing he cares about — is Trump. But if the economy wasn't doing well, he at least gave the appearance that he cared about that. But this term, he doesn't give a f—— about anything. And again, to me, this goes back to what's going on in his head. I think he's so insecure that he's desperate to have his name everywhere when he leaves. But I don't think he's capable of caring about gas prices, diesel prices, the price of beef, the slowing down of wage growth in this country. I don't think he cares, Jim, whether Republicans keep the House or the Senate. All he cares about is him, his money, and his … name.”

Trump’s illness has progressed so far now that neither Acosta or Walsh were sure if Trump was even capable of policing his own actions anymore.

“We don't fully know what he's going to do in these next 15 days. The truth is the current president of the United States is actively trying to sabotage another American election. He just sent threatening letters to some 20,000 California voters that they believe erroneously are non-citizens. He's doing this all over the place to try to intimidate and keep people from voting,” said Walsh, also referring to Trump ordering his DOJ to preemptively target Alaskan elections if Republicans lose.

President Donald Trump's reaction to his bruising new Supreme Court loss will not be quiet, according to a prominent former staffer from his first term, as he is now likely to get "reckless" and demand "extreme measures."

Trump this week saw his attempt to meddle with voting in the U.S. fall apart, after the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, declined to halt a lower court ruling that blocked the implementation of mail-in ballot changes while a lawsuit progresses. The suit stems from Trump's efforts, via executive order, to use the Postal Service as a means to enforce new restrictions on mail voting, a system he has falsely accused of being ripe with fraud for years.

Miles Taylor is a national security expert who previously worked in the Department of Homeland Security in Trump's first term, rising to the office of Chief of Staff before departing in late 2019. He also gained notoriety after writing an op-ed for The New York Times in 2018 as an anonymous whistleblower, claiming to be part of a resistance movement within the administration against Trump's worst impulses. He has since emerged as a vocal conservative critic of the president and has frequently endorsed his political enemies.

On Tuesday, Taylor published his latest column for The i Paper, offering his own first-hand accounts as a means to predict how Trump reacted to his major new Supreme Court loss.

"When Donald Trump loses, he lashes out," Taylor explained. "And if the past few days are any indicator, his top advisers will be getting phone calls – like we did in his first term – demanding extreme measures. Only this time, he’ll have a more compliant audience... I can tell you what probably happened inside the White House late last night and this morning, because in that first term, I was on the receiving end."

He added later: "Moments like this one produced a particular kind of phone call. Late at night, Trump would dial up from the residence, angry about being boxed in and demanding increasingly absurd measures that tested the bounds of legality. I remember when he lost a major case in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and flew into a rage, summoning us to an urgent meeting and telling us he wanted to 'get rid of the judges.' We had to tell him that a president cannot unilaterally abolish a federal appeals court without setting the U.S. Constitution on fire."

Taylor noted that, during his time in the first Trump White House, he never worried much about these demands being met, given that the officials "around him would slow-roll it, talk him back down or quietly let it die." Now, however, his administration is more thoroughly staffed with loyalists, likely to ask "how soon" when asked "to jump off a cliff."

In the wake of the latest ruling, Taylor suggested that Trump is likely to be calling up the "White House, Justice Department and Homeland Security" to demand the most "extreme" possibilities for rigging the midterms in favor of the GOP. He also said Trump's recent demand that his supporters "cheat" at the ballot box to help him was far from a joke, as the president previously "joked" about ideas as a "trial balloon" for actually going through with an idea.

"I spent years watching this President absorb humiliation and somehow turn right back around and convert it into fresh recklessness," Taylor concluded. "Last week, he got a partly empty arena. Last night, he got a legal smackdown of his latest election scheme. In the first term, when the phone rang after moments like these, Trump would recount his lawless fever dreams and bark immoral orders. But there were still people in the building willing to say 'absolutely not' to the crazy idea on the other end of the line. The phone is ringing again, but this time I have no idea who’s left to refuse him."

U.S. President Donald Trump continued to escalate his trade war with Canada when he announced that effective September 29, some Canadian products — including alcohol and certain motorcycles and dairy products — will be banned from the United States. And according to liberal economist Paul Krugman, the damage from Trump's "idiotic trade war" will be even worse than what is being reported.

"There have been many trade conflicts in history, some of them more destructive than the U.S.-Canada fight," Krugman writes in his Substack column. "But I don't think there has ever been a dispute this stupid. Bear in mind that this crisis is entirely gratuitous. Canada has done nothing wrong. Even if one buys into Trumpian nonsense about how every nation that sells us more than it buys is ripping us off, Canada isn't a villain. Last year, Canada did run a modest trade surplus with the United States in goods, but more than half of this imbalance was offset by a U.S. surplus in services. Overall, trade between our nations was almost balanced."

Krugman lays out some key reasons why "an escalating trade war with Canada" will "do real damage to the U.S. economy" as well as to the Canadian economy.

"The essential thing to understand about U.S.-Canada trade is that our two economies have been closely integrated for a very long time," Krugman explains. "We've had free trade in autos and automotive products since 1965. We signed an overall free trade agreement in 1988, six years before the creation of NAFTA (the North America Free Trade Agreement), which included Mexico. And all those decades of free trade have encouraged a great deal of specialization."

Canada, according to Krugman, "supplies a surprisingly large share of many crucial goods."

"Canada provides 70 percent of the oil refined in the U.S. Midwest," the former New York Times columnist notes. "Canada supplies about 60 percent of U.S. aluminum. Canada supplies almost all of America's spruce-pine-fir lumber — preferred for framing in residential construction … In short, if Trump, (Treasury Secretary Scott) Bessent and company think that trade conflict with Canada is a trivial issue, one that Americans will barely notice, they're in for a rude awakening … But Canadians understand why they are being asked to suffer this pain: They are defending their sovereignty and their national identity. Will Americans be willing to suffer economically to soothe Trump's bruised ego?"

On Monday a photograph revealed President Donald Trump to have fresh bruises on his right hand. While the public remains in the dark as to why, one journalist speculates that Trump's brain may be addled by anything from aspirin to a stroke, at least according to one prominent journalist.

"The forthcoming midterm elections are a referendum on President Donald Trump’s policies, not his health," wrote The New Republic's Timothy Noah on Monday. "But when those policies include renaming the Atlantic 'Trump Ocean,' or affecting indifference about whether Iran might 'take out' Los Angeles or San Diego, or prohibiting nominees for executive branch positions from saying out loud, 'Joe Biden won the 2020 election,' that changes the equation. With directives like these emanating from the White House, it’s everybody’s civic duty to consider whether its occupant is a well man."

After speculating that Trump dyes his hair and either sprays or slathers his face, Noah went on to the most important part of Trump's body, as far as the American public is concerned — his brain.

"This is of course the principal area of concern. I reviewed serious reasons for worry in some detail last month ('Why Trump May Not Serve Out His Presidency')," Noah wrote. "To summarize: STAT News reported nine years ago that neurolinguistics and cognition experts comparing old videos of Trump with more recent ones observed deterioration in the complexity of Trump’s unscripted public utterances."

He added, "Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley compared Trump’s 2016 rhetorical style to 'a monkey with a machinegun.' (That’s not a medical opinion, but it’s very good.) Groups of mental health experts again declared in 2024 that Trump displayed signs of cognitive decline, and 18 months later that he’d 'deteriorated even further.' Trump falls asleep a lot during White House meetings. He says crazy stuff all the time. The latest expert to note this is Trump himself. At a MAGA rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, earlier this month, Trump said, 'I could say the stupidest things, and you’d clap me.'"

In a piece that also explores (sometimes humorously) Trump's right ear, right hand, belly, backside, legs and ankles, Noah also hit upon observations about Trump's heart and hands that could explain the recent bruising.

"So far as we know it’s in decent shape; we don’t know why Trump’s doctors last year felt it necessary to do a CT scan of it," Noah wrote of Trump's heart. "Trump takes two drugs, rosuvastatin and ezetimibe, to manage his cholesterol, which as a result is within normal range. Trump takes Bayer aspirin daily to reduce the risk of a heart attack. But for some bizarre reason his favored dose is 325 milligrams, which his doctors have repeatedly told him is about four times too much. A dose that high increases Trump’s risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. Trump’s doctors want him to drop down to 81 milligrams, but he refuses to do that. Is our teetotaling commander in chief an aspirin junkie, like the murderer Perry Smith in In Cold Blood? We can’t rule it out. Aspirin-use disorder is, according to one 2019 study, 'an underreported condition.'"

Then there are the hands. His left hand recently appeared to have bruising; per journalist Aaron Rupar on Monday, "this picture from moments ago is of Trump's LEFT hand — not the one that is usually disfigured."

Regarding that Noah added, "We’ve seen weird bruising on Trump’s right hand for well over a year now. Sometimes he covers it up with makeup, but you can still see it. The White House said it was from shaking hands, but then the condition spread to Trump’s left hand. This may indicate circulation problems. The White House said that the underlying cause was Trump’s overconsumption of aspirin, which is plausible. But if Trump refuses to cut back on his daily 325 Bayer milligrams even as it turns his hands purple, that strengthens the hypothesis that Trump is hooked on aspirin."

President Donald Trump's bruising return to the White House has sent many longtime foreign allies scrambling to get their distance, and according to a new piece from The Atlantic, that distance will last long after Trump is gone.

Trump's second term as president has been marked by notable and widespread disrespect toward nations once seen as close U.S. allies. Between his attempts to level massive tariffs against nearly every nation in the world and his frequent breaches of diplomatic norms, Trump has created a hostile global environment in which allies no longer feel safe trusting in the stability of the U.S.

In a new piece for The Atlantic on Tuesday, staff writer Vivian Salama argued that this new dynamic, in which the nations of the world are working to establish a safe distance from the U.S., is bound to become the new normal for years to come, even after Trump leaves office and is potentially replaced by a more traditional, dependable administration.

"For years, the strategy among U.S. allies was to wait President Trump out," Salama explained. "Now many are preparing for a world in which the United States is no longer indispensable — not simply during Trump’s presidency but afterward as well, regardless of who occupies the White House. They are building military capabilities, diversifying trade, developing new domestic industries and forging relationships that reduce their dependence on Washington."

Writing further, Salama stressed that this is not a wholesale abandonment, but more of a precaution being taken to protect against the recurring instability of American leadership.

"This isn’t a coordinated revolt against America or a wholesale turn toward China," Salama continued. "Most U.S. partners see Washington as an essential partner and don’t fully trust Beijing. But nations that were once firmly in the American orbit are concluding that they cannot rely on the U.S. to provide the same leadership, markets, technology, and military protection that it has for decades. And that, foreign officials told me, is true no matter who wins the presidency in 2028."

She added later: "The changes are already visible, including in rising European defense spending, Canada’s commercial outreach to China and Japan’s efforts to become a larger arms supplier. Taken together, these trends point to a reordering of the international system that stretches far beyond Trump. 'Trump brought with him an earthquake, but we’d be foolish not to prepare for aftershocks,' a senior European official told me. 'The fact is, we’ll be setting ourselves up for failure if we assume that everything will go back to the way it was after Trump leaves office. The world is changing, and we can see very clearly now that America is changing too.'"

Salama also noted that, for as much as the president has become obsessed with monuments to himself, this dramatic shift in the global order is likely to become one of his "most consequential" legacies.

Back in the early 20th Century, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) separated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)—the Mormon Church — to protest its 1904 manifesto renouncing polygamy. The FLDS is a marginal group that the vast majority of Mormons, from former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to R&B star Gladys Knight, AKA The Empress of Soul, have zero connection to. But according to the Washington Post, the FLDS could endanger Rep. Andy Biggs' (R-Arizona) gubernatorial campaign in the Grand Canyon State.

Biggs is seeking the GOP nomination in Arizona's 2026 gubernatorial race. If he wins the nomination on Tuesday, he will take on Democratic incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs in the general election. According to Washington Post reporter Hannah Knowles, however, a 2013 controversy involving the FLDS could come back to haunt the far-right Biggs.

"Momentum was growing in 2013 to crack down on a polygamist religious group accused of ... abusing girls in rural Arizona," Knowles reports in the Post. "The Justice Department was suing. The group's leader was in prison after a stint on the FBI's most-wanted list. Arizona's attorney general wanted to shut down the local police force, the Colorado City Marshal's Office, which he accused of doing the bidding of sect leaders. But a bill designed to strip authority from the marshal’s office never got a vote in the (Arizona) State Senate. "

Knowles continues, "Its Republican sponsor blamed then-Senate President Andy Biggs (R) for the bill's failure to advance in that chamber. Now, more than a decade later — as Biggs cruises toward an expected victory in Tuesday's primary for Arizona governor — the episode is likely to get renewed attention."

Democrats, Knowles reports, "expect to highlight the old fight over the marshal's office" — which, according to the Post reporter, is "one of many polarizing moments in Biggs' long legislative record that some Republicans worry could come back to haunt them in a hotly contested swing-state race."

One of those Republicans is Buster Johnson, a county supervisor in Arizona.

Johnson told the Post, "I would rather vote for somebody who has made a stand for women and children above religion."

Knowles notes that "scrutiny of" the FLDS "grew in the 2000s when officials charged its leader at the time, Warren Jeffs" with felonies and he was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine physician at Harvard Medical School, argues that two major concerns about Donald Trump’s health are being quietly ignored amid the president’s repeated claims of being in “perfect” health after a fourth visit to Walter Reed.

Trump announced online that his fourth trip to Walter Reed for a checkup showed he remains a paragon of good health. CNN host Brianna Keilar said that it isn't surprising because he says that after all of his "annual" physicals, even if those physicals are happening multiple times each year.

However, Dr. Faust has deeper questions for the doctors that he thinks are too often ignored.

"At some point, the president went from being on low-dose aspirin to this very high-dose aspirin," he began. "We learned about that earlier this year, and that happened sometime between 2018 and last year. And many of us said that was unwise because as an E.R. doctor, treating patients [who] are on medications that thin the blood or that disrupt clotting."

It's a problem for the elderly, who are at higher risk of falls. If blood can't clot, a fall with an injury could result in significant blood loss.

"So, the question is, why is he on that dose? Does his doctor really recommend it? One of the things I think everyone who's watching knows is that you have to have a very strong doctor-patient relationship. And if the president is taking a dose of aspirin that his doctor doesn't recommend, and even the United States Preventive Services Task Force says is not a good idea — well, I question that. And I kind of wonder if that's changed since then."

The bruise on his hand, the White House said, comes from his high-dose aspirin and shaking so many hands. Lately he's been hiding it with makeup and under the table or covered by his other hand.

When he looks at the headlines, Dr. Faust said that much of the concern boils down to "normal aging" and Trump suffering from "chronic venous insufficiency," which the White House says is the reason for his swollen legs.

"And in fact, when we learned about it last year, the really important thing was to rule out other, more dangerous conditions. And I think his team did that well. So, it's very important that the president has frequent interactions with his team, which he does, to make sure nothing else comes up," the doctor said.

As for Trump falling asleep in public, Dr. Faust said the president is 80 years old, implying it was normal for someone of his advanced age to grow more exhausted.

The final question involved the MRI, which Trump said he had last year. Dr. Faust said that he believes Trump misstated the claim, and that, from what he understands, it was actually a CT scan of Trump's heart. The doctor wanted to know why the imaging was done at all or if it was an example of overuse. He cited health influencers who advocate for full-body scans as a preventive medicine measure. However, he said, it can often send people on a wild goose chase to understand something benign that may pop up.

"It's ironic," he said, "because you have a president who hasn't really expanded access to health care. So, that's a cognitive dissonance that goes beyond his patient care. But it's certainly one that I think people will be interested in."

- YouTube youtu.be

A striking photograph of President Donald Trump emerged Monday, reigniting debate about the president's physical health after images showed severe bruising across both of his hands.

The image, captured during a White House health care affordability event where Trump appeared alongside Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., revealed deep purple discoloration that the president has previously attempted to conceal with cosmetic products.

When questioned about the visible injuries to his hands, Trump has attributed the bruising to the physical toll of constant handshakes with supporters and world leaders. However, medical professionals and observers have questioned whether such an explanation adequately accounts for the extent and persistence of the injuries now being documented in recent photographs.

The president's apparent efforts to hide the condition — rather than address it directly — have drawn scrutiny from commentators across the political spectrum who wonder what underlying health issues might be responsible.

Social media erupted with commentary following the image's circulation. Political analyst Nicole Sandler described the sight as "downright nauseating," while journalist Gavin Aronsen labeled it a "graphic image."

Others offered critiques that questioned both the president's transparency and what the bruising might indicate about his overall health status. The incident underscores ongoing concerns about Trump's fitness for office and his willingness to be forthright with the American public about his medical condition.A pattern of health questions

Trump's physical appearance has become an increasingly frequent topic of public discussion throughout his presidency. Medical professionals have speculated that such symptoms could indicate circulatory problems, lymphedema, or other underlying conditions that warrant clinical evaluation.

The bruising on his hands represents yet another visible health concern that Trump has chosen to address through concealment rather than transparency. Unlike previous presidents who have made their medical records publicly available, Trump has resisted calls for comprehensive health disclosures, citing privacy concerns.

At nearly 80 years old, Trump is among the oldest individuals to serve as president. Questions about his cognitive and physical fitness have intensified as he approaches his birthday in June. A recent poll showed that 59 percent of Americans believe Trump lacks the mental sharpness needed to lead the country effectively.

The White House has not issued any official statement regarding Trump's hand injuries or what may be causing the persistent bruising. Medical experts note that without a formal diagnosis from Trump's personal physicians, the public can only speculate about the underlying causes based on visible symptoms and the president's own contradictory explanations.

President Donald Trump's increasingly weathered appearances on the campaign trail are once again raising concerns about his health as the 80-year-old travels across the country in a final dash to save endangered Republicans ahead of next week's midterms.

The concerns go far beyond a single awkward moment. In the past few weeks, Trump has appeared utterly drained at rallies, speaking in a very hoarse voice and been seen slumping in his chair at various events.

The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday that the president has held 22 rallies since the beginning of October, with 29 scheduled in total between October 1 and Election Day on November 3. The sheer amount of travel has occasionally required late-night returns to Washington and multiple events in a single day.

The campaign effort also comes as polls suggest Republicans could be facing a wipeout, including in states that Trump won by a wide margin two years ago.

With a possible impeachment, pending investigations and the prospect of being a “super lame duck” for his last two years, it is easy to see why the president hasn’t slowed the campaign.

Even Trump has admitted the campaigning is hitting him hard.

"You think it's easy doing these little suckers?" he asked the crowd at a rally in Michigan on Sunday, referring to his recent campaign appearances.

"When God made vocal cords, he did not make them for 25 or 26 of these in a period of 10 days," he added.

At a White House event on October 7, Trump repeatedly leaned forward and slumped in his chair as other speakers addressed the room. During recent campaign appearances, observers have also noted his drooping eyelids, strained voice and overall look of exhaustion.

On Monday, Trump returned from a Mississippi rally looking sweaty and exhausted despite temperatures having dropped into the 50s, according to the Daily Beast. Earlier, he appeared slow and sluggish as he approached the stage and threw hats into the crowd.

His public comments have also fueled speculation about his mental sharpness. During recent speeches in South Carolina and Iowa, Trump made a strange noise mid-speech, which went viral.

Dr. John Garrison analyzed the video and concluded that the president is displaying “more signs of apparent neurological decline.” The forensic psychologist pointed out that Trump's involuntary vocalization and declining motor control could suggest dementia or seizure activity. Dr. G also noted that the president's issues are progressing over time.

Along with his apparent mental decline, other issues include recurring bruising on Trump's hands and swelling around his ankles, which have also attracted attention.

The White House previously attributed the bruising to frequent handshaking and aspirin use, and said he has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency.

Trump's physician said in May that he remained in "excellent health" and was fully fit to serve.