At the beginning of November, press conference at the White House. Around Donald Trump, seated behind his desk, several experts speak. The topic of the day? An agreement intended to reduce the price of anti-obesity drugs in the United States. Since the Republican billionaire’s return to power, this kind of scene has been rather classic. But this time, one element attracted more attention from the cameras in the room: the American president was caught dozing off several times during the statements of his interlocutors. Donald Trump taking a nap? The White House immediately denounced “manipulation”. A month later, the scene repeats itself, this time during a meeting with his ministers. In any case, these episodes raise new doubts about the health of the leader, aged 79.
Donald Trump ‘perfectly fit for office’
At the start of 2026, Donald Trump is not giving up: with a touch of bad faith, he claims to have simply turned a blind eye to these videos. “It’s very relaxing for me,” he assures the Wall Street Journal. “Sometimes they take pictures of me blinking.” Comments cited in a long article in the economic daily published Thursday January 1, which discusses in detail the rumors surrounding the health of the American president. In recent months, while Donald Trump has appeared more tired in public, the subject has given rise to numerous comments, even conspiracy theories.
On social networks, some Internet users even questioned – without proof – about the physical capacity of the Republican to complete his second term. Donald Trump prefers to brush aside these assertions. “My health is perfect,” he explains, while regretting bringing up this subject “for the 25th time.” His doctors, for their part, want to be just as reassuring. THE Wall Street Journal was thus able to consult the positive results of examinations taken by the conservative leader. According to these tests, his heart age would actually be similar to that of a person only 65 years old. Sean Barbarella, the principal practitioner in charge of the president, promises that the latter is in “excellent health and perfectly fit to exercise his duties as commander in chief.”
Recommendations not always followed
The rumors surrounding Donald Trump’s form are nevertheless taken very seriously by his team. The issue has an important symbolic character: playing on his image as a powerful man, the conservative regularly mocked the health problems experienced by his predecessor Joe Biden. The Democrat, nicknamed “Sleepy Joe” by Donald Trump, was constantly subject to his jokes due to his apparent fatigue. The argument could now turn against him. His little sums taken in front of the camera are now also the subject of ridicule online, including from Democrats. On his
For the person concerned, it is therefore crucial to clear up the various questions about his physical abilities to lead the United States. However, some of Donald Trump’s statements to Wall Street Journal in any case suggest that the American president does not really care about his state of health. More worrying: he assumes not to respect some of the recommendations of the doctors who follow him. He therefore takes 325 mg of aspirin per day, a daily dose much higher than that desired by the specialists who support him. “They would prefer that I take the lower dose [d’aspirine]”, says Donald Trump. “I take a stronger […] for years, and it causes bruising.”
Hematomas, which, in fact, have also been the subject of multiple allegations in recent months. In August, observers noticed blue bruises on the Republican’s hand during a meeting with the South Korean Prime Minister in the Oval Office. Enough to fuel, again, all kinds of fanciful hypotheses on the origin of these bruises. Earlier this year, Sean Barbarella reported that these brands were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshakes and aspirin use, taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen.” But why does Donald Trump refuse to reduce the amount of aspirin he ingests each day? “I’m a bit superstitious,” he says, adding that he has been taking the treatment for 25 years.
Questioning medical discourse
In the same vein, Donald Trump was prescribed to wear compression socks by doctors, after slight swelling in his legs from which he suffered last summer. A habit that the tenant of the White House adopted… only for a while. He no longer wears these socks. “I didn’t like them,” he justifies without further explanation. Another regret expressed by the American president: the passage of a cardiovascular and abdominal scanner, in mid-October. “In hindsight, it’s a shame that I did this examination, because it gave them arguments,” he laments, in reference to the speculation linked to the carrying out of these tests. “I would have been much better off if they hadn’t done it, because just the fact that I passed it made people wonder, ‘Hey, is there a problem?’ But everything is fine.”
More than on factual elements, Donald Trump relies on the conviction that he has “very good genetics”, with parents who remained in good shape until late in life. All of these words, embellished with a hint of questioning of medical words, echo the sometimes ambiguous positions of the republican vis-à-vis the scientific consensus on health issues. Before taking office in Washington, the appointment of vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health had already set the tone for future federal policy in this area. In September, Donald Trump himself created controversy by advising pregnant women not to take paracetamol to limit the risk of autism in their children – a link which has not been established by science.
