President Donald Trump rang in 2026 by forcefully pushing back against media speculation about his health, announcing that White House physicians once again gave him a clean bill of health — including a perfect score on a cognitive exam.
“The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH,’ and that I ‘ACED’ (meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.
He went on to argue that mental fitness should not be optional for national leaders.
“P.S., I strongly believe that anyone running for President, or Vice President, should be mandatorily forced to take a strong, meaningful, and proven Cognitive Examination,” Trump added. “Our great Country cannot be run by ‘STUPID’ or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!”
Trump, who will turn 80 in June 2026, has faced renewed media scrutiny over his age despite repeated clean health evaluations. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, the president said he regretted undergoing advanced imaging last fall, arguing that transparency only fueled unfounded speculation.
“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump told the Journal. “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.”
That October evaluation included cardiovascular and abdominal imaging, part of what Navy Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, the physician to the president, described as Trump’s “ongoing health maintenance plan.” Barbabella reported that Trump “continues to demonstrate excellent overall health” and “maintains a demanding daily schedule without restriction.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the advanced imaging was preventative, noting that “men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.” The results were described as “perfectly normal,” with “all major organs appear[ing] very healthy.”
Despite those findings, the Journal cited anonymous sources claiming the president sometimes struggles with hearing and appears drowsy at events — claims Trump flatly rejected.
“I didn’t fall asleep,” Trump said, explaining that he sometimes closes his eyes because he finds it “very relaxing.” He also dismissed hearing concerns, saying any difficulty only arises “when there’s a lot of people talking.”
Health transparency was a defining issue of the 2024 campaign, particularly before then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. For years, Trump and Republicans accused Biden and his aides of concealing the true extent of Biden’s physical and cognitive decline — concerns that were amplified by Biden’s limited press access and avoidance of unscripted exchanges.
Those concerns came into sharp focus during Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance, when his struggles raised alarms across party lines. More recently, Biden disclosed that he has been diagnosed with cancer, renewing questions about what voters were told — and when — about his condition while he was still in office.
While Trump continues to release detailed medical updates and voluntarily undergo cognitive testing, critics note a stark contrast with the Biden White House’s approach, which often dismissed health concerns as “cheap fakes” or partisan attacks — even as evidence mounted that something was wrong.
