President Donald Trump’s noticeably swollen ankles attracted renewed scrutiny during his St. Patrick’s Day meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the White House on Tuesday, March 17, raising fresh questions about the 79-year-old leader’s health.
While seated in the Oval Office with Martin, Trump’s pant legs rode up to expose what observers described as bulbous “cankles”, ankles so enlarged they seemed to blend into his calves. His black socks puffed around the area, appearing tightly squeezed into his usual Florsheim dress shoes.
Photos from the bilateral meeting highlighted the contrast between Trump’s swollen ankles and the normal ankle proportions of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
In July 2025, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common among older adults in which leg veins struggle to return blood to the heart, causing fluid buildup in the lower legs. In January, he told The Wall Street Journal he briefly tried compression socks for the issue but stopped because he “didn’t like them.”
His enlarged legs were also noticeable at a Kentucky rally on March 11 and during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this month.
The pattern continued on March 19, when Trump’s ankles again appeared swollen during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The next day, he seemed to have difficulty lowering himself to a desk to sign an executive order, extending a leg for balance and gripping the desk edges to sit down.
Concerns about Trump’s health have become more prominent during his second term. At his January 2025 inauguration, he became the oldest person to take office at 78 years and 7 months, roughly five months older than Joe Biden was at his inauguration. In addition to swollen ankles, the president has displayed dark bruises on his hands, which the White House attributes to frequent handshaking and his long-standing, higher-than-recommended aspirin regimen.
Trump has said he takes 325 milligrams of aspirin daily—a dose he has used for 25 years, about four times the usual 81-milligram preventive amount. During Tuesday’s meeting, he appeared to have applied makeup to conceal the chronic bruise on his right hand.
Some medical experts have raised wider concerns about possible cognitive decline. Psychologist Dr. John Gartner, founder of Duty to Warn, has pointed to clinical signs he associates with dementia, such as phonemic paraphasias, mispronouncing or failing to finish words—for example saying “mishiz” for “missiles.” Others have noted what they describe as incoherent “word salad,” trailing off mid-sentence, and growing memory lapses.
Public opinion reflects those worries. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted Feb. 18–23 among 4,638 U.S. adults found 61 percent of respondents— including 30 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents—said Trump had grown erratic with age. Only 45 percent considered him mentally sharp and capable of handling challenges, down from 54 percent in a September 2023 poll.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed concerns about his well-being. Spokesperson Davis Ingle told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and most energetic president in modern American history.
The 31-year-old spokesman, a communications graduate of Southeastern University in Florida where his father Kent Ingle is president, responded more bluntly, saying “the only thing swollen is Erkki Forster’s brain, which keeps him from getting a legitimate job at a real news outlet.”
The St. Patrick’s Day meeting with Martin touched on several diplomatic issues, including awkward moments over Iran policy, but attention was often diverted to Trump’s visible health problems.
Medical professionals note that while chronic venous insufficiency is not usually life-threatening, it can signal underlying cardiovascular problems and reduced mobility in older adults. Effective management typically involves consistent treatments like compression garments and regular activity—measures Trump has only partially followed.
As Trump continues his second term, visible signs of health issues—from swollen ankles and hand bruises to episodes of drowsiness—have become recurring aspects of his public appearances. His choice to avoid recommended treatments like compression socks while continuing a high aspirin dose has prompted concern among healthcare professionals about his medical care.
The White House, which touts itself as the most transparent administration in history, has deflected requests for detailed medical information, issuing statements that emphasize Trump’s vigor and acuity rather than addressing specific health questions.
