Trump Refutes Health-Decline Story by Calling Reporter ‘Ugly’

During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump’s personal physician released a letter claiming that he would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” This assertion (which, we later learned, Trump dictated) has only become more ridiculous as the president has displayed health issues typical of a 79-year-old, from falling asleep in public to showing up to events with a huge bruise on his hand. But these obvious signs of aging have only made Trump, and everyone in his administration, insist more forcefully that he possesses almost superhuman health and energy levels.

So unsurprisingly, Trump was infuriated to wake up to a front-page story in the New York Times on Wednesday that described his declining health.

The story was actually pretty mild. The only big revelation was that compared to his first term, Trump has fewer public events on his schedule and his workday is shorter:

According to a Times analysis of the official presidential schedules in a database maintained by Roll Call, Mr. Trump’s first official event starts later in the day. In 2017, the first year of his first term, Mr. Trump’s scheduled events started at 10:31 a.m. on average. By contrast, Mr. Trump in his second term has started scheduled events in the afternoon on average, at 12:08 p.m. His events end on average at around the same time as they did during the first year of his first term, shortly after 5 p.m.

The number of Mr. Trump’s total official appearances has decreased by 39 percent. In 2017, Mr. Trump held 1,688 official events between Jan. 20 and Nov. 25 of that year. For that same time period this year, Mr. Trump has appeared in 1,029 official events.

Mr. Trump still regularly comes down to the Oval Office after 11 a.m., according to a person familiar with his schedule. This routine is a holdover from his first term: After he complained about being overscheduled in the mornings, Mr. Trump kept so-called executive time hours in the White House residence before he headed downstairs for work.

The article just summarized thornier Trump health concerns, like the White House’s dubious explanations for his persistent bruising and his lack of transparency about a recent MRI and two “annual” physicals this year. The piece notes that Joe Biden was also vague about his health problems, and it includes a quote from a physician who says it’s “commendable” that Trump can still board Air Force One using a long flight of stairs.

But Trump did not appreciate Times reporters Katie Rogers and Dylan Freedman’s attempts to be delicate while discussing this sensitive issue. He responded with a Truth Social tirade that did not provide any detailed answers to many questions about his health. Instead, he broadly claimed that his capital-E “Energy” is only increasing, and he’s “never worked so hard” in his life.

Trump’s other counter-argument: “The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.” (He did not mention her co-author, Freedman, for some reason. )

So, as you can see from this Truth Social post, Trump remains astoundingly healthy and mentally sharp. Could a man who’s running low on energy tap out such a lengthy diatribe filled with so many forceful capital letters and nearly coherent arguments? I think not!