Trump’s Age and Health [Updated]
Plus, a headline reaction.
First, the headline reaction, which is from the WSJ: As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance (updated with a gift link–although it still requires registration). As regular readers know, I am not a big “diagnosis from afar” guy, and I also tend to think that a great deal of Trump’s bad behavior is just bad behavior that should not be excused or explained away by age. But, good grief, the man is obviously getting old. He falls asleep on camera on the regular and has been showing signs of being in his late 70s for a while now. “Emerge” is not the right verb. Maybe “As Signs of Aging Intensify” or “As Signs of Aging Deepen” because “emerge” suggests that they are just now surfacing. Whatever I did to my knee a couple of days ago on the golf course could result in a headline that reads “As Signs of Aging Emerge, Taylor Responds With Ibuprofen and Less Walking Than Normal.”
Second, here are some details gleaned from sources willing to pay to read the WSJ piece. Via Reuters: Trump tells WSJ he is taking more aspirin than doctors recommend.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he is taking a larger daily dose of aspirin than his doctors recommend.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the paper in an interview published on Thursday. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
It makes sense insofar as that seems to be how he makes most decisions: take a semi-understood bit of information and then extrapolate out a ridiculous conclusion that ignores expertise. It certainly tracks with his economic and foreign policy choices.
Regarding the MRI, Trump said the following in a small, ungated portion of the WSJ piece:
“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on his decision to get a cardiovascular and abdominal scan in October. “I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”
Reuters clarifies:
When asked about the MRI, Trump and Barbabella told the Journal that the president actually got a CT scan.
Barbabella said Trump’s doctors had initially said they would perform either an MRI or a CT scan but decided to do the latter “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues.”
It revealed no abnormalities, according to Barbabella.
Why Trump couldn’t just report out the tests and instead said he didn’t even know why they did them is beyond me. No one of any consequence would have been especially surprised that an elderly man had medical tests. It is, you know, kind of a known thing at that age.
BTW, he isn’t dozing off in meetings, he’s just blinking! (You know, very, very slowly).
Update:
That’ll keep that blood thin!
********************@
To quote Scott Lemieux at LGM, “It sure is a lucky break for Trump that the health and cognitive ability of an elderly president or potential president stopped being by far the most important issue in the country in July 2024.”
I’m continually amazed by the fact the mainstream political press seems entirely uninterested in any investigation whatsoever into why Trump is receiving frequent IV infusions through the backs of his hands, and simply parrots the risible bullshit administration line about frequent handshakes.
I’m wondering if the “thin blood” comment is an admission of something about his actual condition. Some illnesses, like cancer, can thicken the blood.
@Kingdaddy:
Don’t ever stop looking for the silver lining.
Fries, a Quarter Pounder, Big Mac and FoF all in one sitting. I’m reminded of the old Monty Python restaurant sketch with Terry Jones and John Cleese. Perhaps someone will offer Trump “just one more thin, little after dinner mint.”
@Mr. Prosser:
It’s wafer thin!!!!
@Kingdaddy: I don’t think you need a more complicated reason than, “Trump’s thinking about lots of things ossified at a time when an aspirin a day was considered beneficial and was often recommended by MDs.”
Re Trump’s diet… There are people whose cholesterol is quite high despite diet and drugs. I have a friend like that; start him on any cholesterol drug you want and his total number goes from its usual 300 down to something safe. In six months his body apparently gets habituated, and the number is back to 300. My father could eat anything he wanted and his cholesterol numbers stayed well down into the safe range. Even when his diet got pretty bad as he aged.
Trump could be a young man and I still wouldn’t celebrate the goings-on these days.
@Daryl: This tracks.
otoh I had a Burger King double cheeseburger and fries yesterday
(I was hungry at lunchtime, dammit!)
And probably not more imminently to pop my clogs.
Also, is not the fishy thing inherently healthful? 😉
Has to be said: “Quarter Pounder hamburger and a Big Mac”?
That’s just greedy, lol.
(And greed is often a bit of a tell as to personality)
Simple reality: Trump has always been on the lower slope of the curve.
And age plus intellectual incuriosity are unlikely to be doing his mental capacity any favours.
Also, how did heck did Barbarella get into this timeline?
(OK, it was Barbabella, but sometimes misreading is crucial. rofl.)
@Michael Cain:
Me same.
My diet could be better, though I do try to keep my veg quotient up.
Last review by doc:
“I supect you could eat a butter-fried whale and chips, and still come out sunny side up.”
“I dissolve the cholestorol in alcohol, doc. That’s my secret.”
@Mikey:
I maintain my position that a President’s cognitive condition is much less relevant than what the leader does with what mental acuity they have.
Members of the Biden administration have caught flack for obscuring Biden’s cognitive decline during his term, but it never much mattered to me because, despite his aging brain, Biden was able to shepherd through major pieces of legislation and he was a stalwart leader for NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. (Hell, they snuck into a country at war when he was 80 yrs old!)
On the other hand, I see Trump’s cognitive decline as a mixed blessing. As a result of his addled, aging brain, he is diminished in the damage he could potentially do – imagine a whip-smart authoritarian being handed the power Trump now holds – and though he vacuity has cut loose several bad actors in his administration, I believe we’d be worse off, if Trump’s mind was up for what his heart wants.
@JohnSF:
Don’t forget the Filet-O-Fish! Those omega-3 fatty acids are key to Trump’s health.