A bombshell new book by New York Times White House correspondents reveals that President Donald Trump’s closest aides have privately acknowledged, for the first time, that the 80-year-old president is visibly aging — disclosures that go well beyond the physical symptoms Trump has already struggled to keep out of public view during his second term.
Aides Privately Worry About the President’s Age
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, written by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, who cover the White House for the New York Times, paints a striking portrait of a commander-in-chief whose physical decline is becoming harder to disguise. The book describes staff members quietly confiding to one another that Trump was showing his age in ways they had never noticed before. Haberman and Swan reported that aides began saying privately that the president appeared to be aging visibly. The observations came from people who saw him regularly and noticed patterns of fatigue and physical strain that Trump’s commanding presence could not always mask.
The book documents age-related concerns extending beyond what has already been reported. Trump has repeatedly been photographed with chronically swollen ankles, a condition his doctors attribute to chronic venous insufficiency — a circulatory problem in which the legs fail to return blood to the heart efficiently. He has also appeared publicly with unexplained bruising on both hands, a mysterious neck rash, and has been photographed or observed closing his eyes during Oval Office meetings, a visit to Saudi Arabia, and even during Pope Francis’ funeral.
Beyond those visible issues, Haberman and Swan report that Trump has developed significant hearing difficulties, frequently asking people to repeat themselves mid-conversation. They note that the president held joint press conferences with foreign leaders in the Oval Office more frequently than in the East Room, partly to take advantage of superior sound quality and to avoid prolonged standing. The shift away from the East Room — historically a preferred venue for formal presidential appearances — reflects quiet accommodations being made around Trump’s physical limitations.
The ‘Cankles’ Controversy and Appearance Obsession
One of the book’s more revealing episodes centers on Trump’s reaction to press coverage of his swollen ankles. According to Haberman and Swan, Trump became so agitated by reports and photographs highlighting what some observers were calling his “cankles” that he directed press secretary Karoline Leavitt to defend him publicly during a briefing. West Wing staffers reportedly viewed this as an unusual deployment of the briefing room, though they found it typical of how Trump prioritizes concerns about his image. Nauta, who holds the position of director of Oval Office operations and has served Trump for years, keeps a travel kit with grooming supplies including makeup, hairspray, breath mints, a steamer for clothing, and scissors for Trump to cut stray neck hairs that extend past his collar, according to the book. The authors also report Trump has used makeup to hide hand bruising.
A President Who Has Become ‘Housebound’
The book also describes a president who has grown increasingly reluctant to travel or venture far from familiar surroundings. During the first year of his second term, Trump largely confined himself to the White House or his private clubs, rarely venturing beyond those comfort zones. Haberman and Swan connect this tendency to the two assassination attempts he survived, noting that his concern about personal safety — always present during his first term — has intensified considerably. Trump also reportedly told aides at the end of the 2024 campaign that he was finished with lengthy rallies.
The disclosures arrive in a politically loaded context. Trump spent years mocking his predecessor Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” making Biden’s age and mental fitness a central line of attack. Now Trump faces strikingly similar scrutiny. According to a May White House medical memo, the president was in “excellent health,” and one of his most prominent physicians, Dr. Mehmet Oz, praised the president’s results as “spectacular.” Trump himself posted a one-word verdict on Truth Social after a hospital visit: “PERFECT.”
White House Pushes Back Hard
The White House moved quickly to dispute the book’s framing. Spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement that the president’s mental acuity, vigor, and availability to the press far exceed what occurred in the Biden administration, when he said the president’s party and sympathetic journalists hid Biden’s deteriorating condition. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also stated he has never personally witnessed Trump fall asleep during a meeting.
Regime Change is not the first major publication to raise questions about Trump’s fitness. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her book The Art of Power, described concerns among doctors that Trump’s mental and psychological health was in decline during the final stretch of his first presidency. Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, has also spoken and written extensively about what she characterizes as the president’s accelerating physical and cognitive decline. The White House has consistently rejected those characterizations, but with Haberman and Swan’s deeply sourced account now public, the debate over the president’s health shows no sign of fading.
Sources: The Daily Beast | Yahoo News | AOL | Extra.ie
