Donald Trump's allegedly ailing health has been the subject of media speculation for months, which analysts have said is interrupting the president's quest to be seen as an unflinching strongman. Salon writer Chauncey DeVega suggested in a recent column that Trump's invasion of Venezuela was a "prime opportunity" for the president to "get his swagger back." But the problem, he said, is that Trump can't hide his clear mental and physical decline.
President Donald Trump defended his energy and health in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and disclosed that he had a CT scan, not an MRI scan, during an October examination about which he and the White House delayed offering details. Trump, in the interview, said he regretted undergoing the advanced imaging on his heart and abdomen during an October visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center because it raised public questions about his health.
It can be hard to work out what might be going through Donald Trump's head at the best of times, but lately his actions have seemed to be increasingly bizarre and reckless. However, all of those actions become much easier to understand with one simple perspective shift: Trump knows he is dying, he doesn't have much time, and he won't have to face any consequences, at least not in this life.
Before I talk to Jonathan, I want to open with some preliminary remarks about a shadowy future ahead for the United States. I am recording this talk on the 1st of September of 2025, Labor Day Monday. Now, rumor is rife this day that President [Donald] Trump suffered some kind of medical event over the weekend. I have, of course, no idea whether there is any basis for this rumor, and I'm not speculating about its truth or falsehood.
They made it all the way to the Oval Office, where Trump was asked by a cheeky Fox News reporter: "How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?" Trump, with a smirk, said he hadn't heard the rumors about his demise - but was "very active" over the long weekend doing interviews, playing golf and posting "poignant" messages on Truth Social.
AUDIE CORNISH: I there's one other thing I have to bring up before the end of the show. In just a few hours President Trump is touting an appearance for what the White House is calling a quote major announcement from the Oval Office, and that happens all the time. But here's the thing. This is the first public event after a weekend of speculation about Trump's health. At one point the term Trump is dead was even trending on social media. Not true
Well, I've gotten a lot of good on-the-job training in the last 200 days. But also say that the president is in incredibly good health, he's got incredible energy. And while most of the people who work around the president of the United States are younger than he is, I think that we find that he actually is the last person who goes to sleep, he's the last person making phone calls at night, and he's first person who wakes up.
