The Glaringly Obvious Signs That Donald Trump's Health Seems To Be In Decline

As the president of the United States, Donald Trump's mental and physical health is a matter of public interest and national concern. Trump is nearing his 80s, and when he was re-elected in 2024, he became the oldest man to ever get voted in. Despite the well-known toll being president can take on some people, Trump's recent glowing medical exam seems to show that the man is in surprisingly good shape. Also, as Trump has declared time and time again, often in the most inappropriate situations, he even passed his cognitive tests.

However, there do seem to be some fairly glaring indications that Trump's health and wellness may be waning. From bruises forming on his body repeatedly to his low-energy speeches that seem to prove he might just be too old for such a trying job, Trump has many people questioning his fitness and his potential longevity. Questions have also been raised about whether or not his publicly released medical report really adds up.

It's clear Trump has massaged the truth when it comes to his height — just look at him standing next to Prince William, after all — and many feel his medical report may have been generous when listing his weight as 224 pounds. After all, having a well-known love for fast food and a button on his desk he can press to have a butler deliver him a soda suggests that he isn't exactly health-conscious when it comes to his meal planning. It's possible that Trump might not be healthy enough to run for his much-talked-about third term, even if it was constitutionally legal (which, for the record, it is not).

Random bruises can often be an issue faced by people as they get older. However, a remarkably sizable bruise on the back of Donald Trump's hand has concerned some doctors and raised questions about his health. Trump's large discolored bruise could be seen covering almost the entire back side of his right hand in April 2025, when he was photographed presenting the U.S. Naval Academy football team with the coveted Commander-in-Chief trophy.

If the large bruise had popped up out of nowhere, it likely wouldn't have raised many eyebrows, as people in their 70s are more susceptible to easily bruising. However, it wasn't the first time Trump has sported a massive bruise on the same hand. The painful-looking mark was initially noticed during Trump's time on the campaign trail in October 2024. It was also very noticeable in February 2025, shortly after his inauguration, when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

While the repeated appearance of the large bruise could indicate countless things — including the possibility that he's needed to get IV injections or blood drawn for testing — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had a predictably more mundane explanation. "President Trump is a man of the people," Leavitt said (via NBC News), later clarifying, "President Trump has bruises on his hand because he's constantly working and shaking hands all day every day."

Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, haven't always been the poster couple for warm, loving relationships. There have been countless signs that their marriage is on the rocks for years, and the pair often look awkward or distant when next to one another at public events. Melania even swatted Donald away awkwardly when he tried to hold her hand in public back in 2017. However, things were quite different during Pope Francis' funeral, where Donald and Melania were packing on the PDA like no one was watching.

The reason for this recent uptick in emotional and physical connectivity, however, might not actually have anything to do with a renewed spark in their romance. An unnamed source told The Daily Mail in April 2025 that Trump may need to hold Melania's hand and stay close to her because he might need help physically moving.

"There is a possibility that he is reaching for Melania for both emotional and physical stability," the source told the outlet. "The president is getting older. His gait is not as steady." While the kissing and giggling could be a sign that they've found some sort of new wellspring of affection, Melania's glaring absence from the White House suggests she's got other things on her mind, and Trump might not always be able to lean on her for emotional and literal support.

In April 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released Donald Trump's medical report, and it raised eyebrows to be sure. The report made some shocking claims about just how healthy Trump is, including having a heart rate of 62 beats per minute. While this is within range of a normal healthy heart, men of Trump's age typically have heart rates of 75 to 128 BPM, while the 40 to 60 BPM range is often seen in physically fit athletes, according to Forbes.

Additionally, Trump's weight and height were once again called into question. The report claims Trump is 6 feet, 3 inches tall, yet when he's been photographed next to other world leaders around that same height — for example, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — he's clearly not the height that he claims to be. Then, when you look at what Trump typically eats in a day, it calls into question his reported weight of 224 pounds (especially if he really is close to 6 feet, 3 inches).

Beyond the dubious data, social media users have also found spelling errors in the medical report. In one section, the report states that an examination of his head and face "revealed no significant abnormalities with the exception of scaring on the right ear from a gunshot wound." As one user on X remarked, "Scarring being spelled incorrectly doesn't give folks more reason for confidence."

In the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden stepping down from the campaign and Kamala Harris taking over the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump began to concern people who felt he was driving his campaign into the ground and was acting particularly unhinged, even for Trump. However, a report by Vanity Fair revealed one particular theory regarding why Trump seemed to fall apart for a while during the election — before going on to claim victory.

According to an unnamed source close to Trump's campaign, he became fixated on watching footage of the attempt made on his life in July 2024 at a rally in Pennsylvania. The incident saw Trump suffer a minor injury to his ear but potentially a major injury to his psyche. "He's been watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head — over and over and over again," the source said, adding that Trump "may actually legit have PTSD."

However, PTSD expert Dr. Seth Norrholm spoke with The Independent in August 2024 and addressed Trump's alleged fascination with rewatching his own near-death experience. According to Norrholm, he felt it was a sign of massive narcissism. "If he is going back and watching this — and this is my opinion — he's not watching this in the vein of PTSD, he's watching this in a vein of 'look at this event that happened to me, I took a bullet for democracy,'" Narrholm said. "Put simply, narcissism overshadowed the post-traumatic response." However, we may never know the true mental impact of this event.