Trump’s cognitive decline – the psychological state of the world’s most powerful man

Image - Melo Liu

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Perhaps the most defining talking point of 2024’s presidential election campaign, a factor that saw Kamala Harris make history as the first woman of colour to run for the office, was the mental and physical state of her ballot partner Joe Biden. The headlines were dominated by speculation that Biden was in significant decline – exhibited in a disastrous presidential debate and countless episodes of broadcast incompetency. But with the cameras focused on Biden it seems the media missed the other OAP on the ballot. In the battle between geriatrics, Trump seemed to fly under the radar despite being born when India was still a part of the British Empire. Regardless, over Trump’s first few months the cracks are beginning to show – and they aren’t being talked about.

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I therefore want to present the case for Trump’s own cognitive decline, examining why the media continues to treat Trump like it's still 2016.The world’s most powerful man is perhaps no longer physical powerhouse his base continues to worship.

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Clinical psychologists Harry Segal, a senior lecturer at Cornell University and John Gartner, former assistant professor at John Hopkins University have made it their mission over the past year to highlight the mental deficiencies Trump appears to be experiencing as he ages, suggesting he may have some form of dementia. On their podcast ‘Shrinking Trump’ they have been documenting the President’s alleged cognitive decline, discussing the range of symptoms he seems to be exhibiting.

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Key signs of decline in Trump come from his rambling speeches and bizarre behaviour, from forgetting people’s names (he referred to the Japanese President as Mr Japan) to struggling to walk in a straight line. It seems these issues aren’t particularly new either.

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Segal cites the President’s surreal campaign appearance back in October, wherein he played ‘DJ’ for 30 minutes, abandoning his schedule for an impromptu dance break. “Trump has shown evidence of dementia for the past year as indicated by his strange gait, phonemic paraphasia—when he begins a word and can’t finish it—and decline in the complexity of his words and concepts” Segal writes in an interview with Cornell University.

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There are two further signs he is in cognitive decline he continues - “First, he is avoiding events where he has to respond coherently and spontaneously" and “Second, he has become more impulsive, another sign of incipient dementia. This explains his strange behaviour in Philadelphia – his abrupt decision to play DJ is yet another sign of his accelerating cognitive decline.”

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Fast forward to Trump’s second term and these strange behaviours haven’t gone anywhere. In the past month alone, he’s treated Ursula von der Leyen to a bizarre tangent on windmills, claimed his uncle taught the Unabomber, discussed light fittings in a Cabinet Meeting and zigzagged down a red carpet when meeting Vladimir Putin. What’s striking about these blunders is that they occur when Trump’s at his best – the times he’s got an entire team behind him curating his image. What goes on behind the scenes may be far more alarming.

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The most interesting aspect of Trump’s case is that no one seems to notice how unhinged his behaviour actually is. The entire Trump image, from his tweets, speeches, actions and even merchandise, depicts the President as unabashedly himself, the antithesis of a conventional Washington politician. It's this subversive image that allows potential symptoms of dementia, or at the very least cognitive decline, to fly under the radar, dismissed as ‘Trump being Trump’. We are so used to hearing him speak in a messy, disjointed way that it doesn’t register to listeners anymore. You need to see Trump’s speech written down to get a full sense of how unhinged he truly is.

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Let me give you an example.

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This is an extract from a Cabinet Meeting on the 26^thof August, where Trump is discussing the deployment of National Guard Troops in Washington DC.

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“That's nice, and those are tough troops too. Those are not politically correct troops, we don't have politically correct anymore. We have tough guys, tough people, including some tough women. But we have tough people, and when you look at them, I'll tell you, they showed one scene where a bunch of Tren de Aragua guysor whatever, maybe MS-13, maybe MSDNC, OK, because to me they're worse. I think they're worse. MSNBC maybe is worse than Tren de Aragua, real scum, real scum, real dishonest people. But anyway, but they went into this gang, I think it was Tren de Aragua, Venezuela, and they weren't nice to this group of people.”

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I think you get the idea.

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The media treated Biden’s decline so viciously because his usual political image was so proficient, developed over years of government service. Trump’s image has never had this polished look, meaning when his symptoms show themselves, they aren’t easily recognisable.

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Although media coverage of Trump’s declining mental abilities is limited, the debate is slowly making it into the mainstream. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent switch to tweeting like Trump, using a similar rhetorical style and tone has opened conversation about the president’s communication style, and Texan House Democrat Jasmine Crockett has begun referring to Trump as ‘Dementia Demented Don’ on social media. Crockett has also called for the use of the 25^th Amendment – a move that replaces the President with his Vice President if they become unfit for office – to bring some clarity back to the executive.

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It seems that these moves are making progress but are ultimately failing to cut through to the American public, a public that was quick to jump on Biden’s decline only a year ago. With Republicans defending “the healthiest president this nation has ever seen” (according to House Representative Ronny Jackson), I think it’ll take an obvious, visual decline in Trump’s health to render any calls for the 25th Amendment. The media is so desensitised to the chaos of the current White House that rhetorical blunders or distracted behaviour are simply too subtle to be picked up on.

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Regardless of whether Trump does have dementia or a similar condition (we can only speculate), the issue of his age will only continue over the next three years, a problem faced by all aging leaders. If anything, this article acts as a warning for what is to come – showing the signs to look out for and providing an underlying reason behind America’s chaotic political climate. When the world’s most powerful man is dismantling democracy whilst being unable to string a sentence together, it is clear politics is in a very unstable place.