Donald Trump‘s loud, combative and largely unconvincing address to the nation on Wednesday has reignited speculation that the US President is in cognitive decline.
Trump used the nationally televised address to blame his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the economic setbacks faced by Americans a year into his term.
In a speech resembling a campaign rally, Trump condemned the Biden administration for serving “insiders, illegal aliens, career criminals, corporate lobbyists, prisoners, terrorists and above all foreign nations which took advantage of us at levels never seen before.”
But the US President’s irate tone, coupled with a string of inaccurate and exaggerated claims as well as his mispronunciation of words, has brought questions over Trump’s mental capacity back to the fore – an issue that experts warn could be exploited by his political adversaries at home and abroad.
That comes in addition to growing concerns about the President’s physical health, following days when the President appears to have fallen asleep during Oval Office events, his admission that he has undergone and MRI, and photos showing bruising on his hand.
At 79, Trump is the oldest person to ever be elected as president.
Trump’s ‘unhinged’ address
Trump began his 18-minute address by saying: “Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it”, claiming that “inflation has stopped”, and vowing that the US was “poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen”.
While inflation rose to 9.1 per cent during Biden’s term in 2022 – its highest level in 40 years – it had dropped to 2.9 per cent during his last month in office, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That was far from the record level of inflation of 23.7 per cent, set in 1920.
Trump also accused the previous administration of “driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before. I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast,” Trump added.
Meanwhile, data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday showed prices rose 2.7 per cent in the year to November – although the figure was down from 3 per cent in September.
After Trump’s speech, commentators and politicians from across the political spectrum raised concerns over his misleading claims and frustrated demeanour.
Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Posting on X, former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said: “Someone come get grandpa he’s yelling again, and we’re concerned.”
Condemning Trump’s speech, Rick Wilson, a former Republican political strategist, wrote on his Substack: “His old, hypnotic Maga mojo was gone, leaving only a desperate, ranting old man trying for one last time to inspire the old magic. It failed, utterly.”
Democrat Congressman and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the speech as “unhinged”.
“It was an unhinged speech that was, of course, untethered from reality and truth,” he told MS NOW, formerly MSNBC.
Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen also took to X to condemn the speech, saying: “Quickly lost track of how many lies Trump shouted out tonight, but the main takeaway is that he has clearly lost touch with reality. Delusional.”
Mark Shanahan, Associate Professor of Political Engagement at the University of Surrey, warned that concerns about Trump’s mental capacity could be utilised by his adversaries, both domestically and abroad.
“Trump’s reputation is already ‘handle with care’ among world leaders,” he told The i Paper. “The likes of [Vladimir] Putin and Xi [Jinping] will see any decline as an opportunity to press their interests – something they have already been successful in during 2025, while traditional friends and partners will increasingly see Trump as an unreliable ally.
He added: “The public turned against Joe Biden very quickly when his decline became clear. If Trump’s age really is catching up with him fast, the American public beyond the Maga core won’t hold back in making their disquiet clear.”
Richard Johnson, Senior Lecturer in US Politics and Policy at Queen Mary University of London, said that there would need to be “indisputable evidence” that Trump’s cognitive or physical capacity were in decline before his Republican base began publicly raising concerns – let alone took action to threaten his position as President.
“Perceptions of Trump’s health are filtered heavily through a partisan lens,” he said. “Democrats will be much more likely to see any sign of frailty as evidence of Trump’s incapacity to continue as president. Republicans are more likely to explain it away, excuse it or imagine it to be something else.
“It would take something very dramatic to take away the partisan lens through which Americans view the President’s health.”
Suing BBC – but not knowing why
Trump has announced he will sue the BBC for defamation, seeking a total of $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages from the broadcaster.
The case centres on an edited version of Trump’s speech to his supporters in Washington on 6 January, 2021, which featured in the BBC’s October 2024 Panorama documentary called Trump: A Second Chance?.
The BBC acknowledged that by combining two separate segments of the speech, the edit gave “the mistaken impression” he had “made a direct call for violent action”, but disagreed that there was a basis for a defamation claim.
Commenting on the case, Trump appeared to accuse the broadcaster of far more than a misleading edit of his speech, saying the BBC used “AI or something” to “put terrible words in my mouth”.
“They had me speaking with words that I never said,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Condemning the remarks, British journalist Emily Maitlis said: “The level of self-delusion in that is extraordinary because what Panorama did and what it’s admitted to is taking a bit from the earlier part of his speech and scissoring it straight with a bit that came an hour later.
“They were all his words. They were all in the speech. There was no AI. They were words that came from his mouth. So just put that one to bed.”
Trump dozes off during Oval Office meeting
Trump was dubbed “Dozy Don” by one of his most outspoken critics, Democrat Governor of California Gavin Newsom, after he appeared to doze off during an Oval Office meeting about how tackling obesity can improve sleep.
Trump was caught struggling to keep his eyes open as he leant back in his chair while medical officials including US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced a reduction in prices for weight-loss drugs.
“DOZY DON IS BACK,” wrote Newsom in a post on X, echoing Trump’s repeated criticisms of Biden, whom he described as “Sleepy Joe” and claimed was too old to serve a second term at 81.
DOZY DON IS BACK! pic.twitter.com/TQHaMi9YaF
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) November 7, 2025The White House insisted the US President “was not sleeping; in fact, he spoke throughout and took many questions from the press during this announcement.”
David Andersen, Associate Professor in US Politics at the University of Durham, said: “Speculation about President Trump’s physical and cognitive decline poses enormous risks to his presidency.
“Trump has built his entire reputation upon an image of him being a strong, energetic, and unassailable leader who will battle ruthlessly for his supporters.”
He added: “A centerpiece of his campaign against President Biden was his argument that Biden was no longer ‘up to the task’ of governing the country. The moniker ‘Sleepy Joe’ was used to reinforce this image of Biden as too old and frail to lead the nation.
“Trump’s base is primed to resonate with accusations of weakness and age-related decline. With these accusations now levied against him, Trump is vulnerable.”
Confusing countries
Trump has repeatedly confused Albania and Armenia, sparking further concerns about his mental capacity.
Speaking to Fox News in September, Trump said: “I solved wars that [were] unsolvable. Azerbaijan and Albania, it was going on for many, many years, I had the prime ministers and presidents in my office.”
Trump repeated the mistake in a press conference with Sir Keir Starmer, during which he fumbled the pronunciation of Azerbaijan, saying: “We settled Abba-baijan and Albania.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama were filmed making fun of Trump’s mix-up.
Speaking to Macron, Rama said: “You should make an apology … to us because you didn’t congratulate us on the peace deal that President Trump made between Albania and Azerbaijan.”
Bruised hands and swollen ankles
Bruising on Trump’s hands, which have occasionally been covered with plasters or makeup, and swelling of his ankles, have also sparked speculation over his health.
The White House said he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which is common in elderly people, and the bruising was from “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump underwent a “comprehensive exam”, including vascular testing.
Trump’s bruised hands are seen in August (Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)She said Trump’s bruised hand was consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which was “part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen”.
Meanwhile, a memo written by White House physician Captain Sean Barbabella released earlier this month said that advanced imaging of Trump’s heart and abdomen yielded “perfectly normal” results.
The memo came after Trump said he had undergone an MRI scan but had “no idea” which part of his body was being looked at.
In October, Trump said that he received an MRI at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The White House said the scan formed part of his “routine yearly checkup”, though declined to comment on why Trump had an MRI during a physical exam.
Trump said at the time that the MRI “was perfect”.
James D Boys, senior research fellow at UCL’s Centre on US Politics, also hit back at speculation over Trump’s health, describing it as a “disgrace”.
“Clearly, Donald Trump is prone to exaggeration and this is often displayed during his many speeches and regular interactions with the media, last night was no exception,” he said.
“Whatever policy issues one may have with Donald Trump, or whatever one may think of him as a human being, his stamina is remarkable and in stark contrast to his predecessor. There is no suggestion that this is or will have any impact on his global standing and to suggest otherwise risks moving into the realm of fiction.”
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