As President Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday on Sunday by hosting a UFC fight card on the White House lawn , the milestone once again brings the spotlight to his age.
Trump, who became the oldest person to assume the presidency when he was sworn in for a second term last year, is only the second president to become an octogenarian while in office, after predecessor Joe Biden. At the end of his second term, Trump will leave office older than any of his predecessors.
Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns about his age and mental fitness.
Trump’s age alone does not determine his fitness for office. But as he turns 80, his medical disclosures, public appearances and past attacks on Biden’s fitness have made age and transparency political issues heading into this year's midterm elections.
He has repeatedly tried to fight off concerns about his age and stamina, saying in a February interview that he feels physically and mentally the same as he did 50 years ago. But as he seeks to project strength ahead of November’s midterms, questions about his age and health may remain on voters’ minds.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Newsweek that Trump "is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health."
He added that Trump's "sharpness, unmatched energy and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the last administration when Democrats and the legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people."
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Trump’s Health Under Scrutiny
Trump’s physician said the president is in “excellent health” and “fully fit” to serve as commander-in-chief after his May physical. Dr. Sean Barbabella reported that Trump demonstrated strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall health and that he had a perfect score on an assessment used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment.
But past hyperbolic statements about Trump's health from the president and White House officials, as well as the tendency to keep details about his health secret, have resulted in some experts expressing skepticism about his medical reports.
The White House last year disclosed that Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a fairly common condition for older adults that causes blood to pool in the legs, following public speculation over visible swelling in Trump’s legs and bruises on his hands.
There is no law requiring presidents to disclose their full records, but a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in May raised questions as it was Trump’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office last year. Dr. Mehmet Oz told reporters this month that Trump’s health is “spectacular” and that the visits are because Trump “likes the results” and “is curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction.”
S. Jay Olshansky, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois-Chicago who has studied the health of past presidents, said age should be irrelevant when judging a president’s capability.
“It's classic ageism to denigrate somebody just because of how old they are,” he told Newsweek.
But he noted that the “the probability of things going wrong as you grow older rises exponentially.”
In Trump’s case, Olshansky said it was “difficult to unsee some of the issues,” including instances of Trump slurring his words.
For Olshansky, concerns about Trump’s age and health could be put to bed if he were to release more detailed medical records, as other presidents have done.
"I think the best way for the president to address it would be to make all of his medical records publicly available unredacted," he said.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have also called for greater checks on presidents, including an independent commission that could assess a president’s health and mental fitness.
In April, Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation to establish a commission to determine presidential capacity under the 25th Amendment after Trump warned that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if Tehran did not capitulate to his demands in the ongoing war that began on February 28.
The White House also provided Newsweek with a statement from Trump's former physician, Texas Representative Ronny Jackson.
"As the former Physician to the President and still working closely with his world-class medical team, I can say unequivocally that President Trump’s health, both physically and cognitively, is excellent," Jackson said in the statement. "His stamina, focus, and strength are exceptional and on display every day. Claims to the contrary are pure fiction from those who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome and are desperate to undermine a President whose success s…
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