Medical specialists and behavioral experts told The Guardian that former U.S. president Donald Trump, 79, is displaying a pattern of confusion, digressions, and fabrications that they say resembles the cognitive lapses for which he often ridicules predecessor Joe Biden.
Key observations cited
- Cabinet detour: During a July meeting Trump spent 15 minutes discussing White House décor, losing track of the agenda and mis-remembering basic facts about his administration.
- Windmill rant in the U.K.: In talks with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, Trump abruptly shifted from migration to a two-minute monologue against wind turbines, claiming without evidence they drive whales “crazy” and “kill birds.”
- Fabricated anecdotes: Trump told supporters his late uncle John, an MIT professor who died in 1985, once taught “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski—impossible chronologically and factually.
- June 2024 debate stumble: The ex-president’s difficulties stringing thoughts together in last year’s debate led Republican leaders to nudge him out of the 2024 race, The Guardian notes.
Expert opinions
Cornell psychologist Harry Segal says Trump “changes topics with no self-regulation and constructs memories that never happened,” signs of possible cognitive decline.
Political reaction
- Democrats including Rep. Jasmine Crockett and California Governor Gavin Newsom have begun spotlighting Trump’s lapses, firing back at GOP attacks on Biden’s age.
- The White House removed some official Trump transcripts in May, citing “consistency.” Critics call it an effort to mask incoherence.
Background
Trump has long boasted he is a “stable genius,” pointing to basic cognitive tests as proof. Yet The Guardian argues scrutiny of his mental fitness has been muted compared with the attention given to Biden, even as strange episodes—from a 40-minute stage sway during a 2024 rally medical scare to rambling, thread-skipping speeches—pile up.