President Donald Trump sparked fresh worries about his mental sharpness this week after struggling to understand basic questions from reporters during White House events.
The most recent incident happened on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, when Trump appeared confused about “burn bags” – standard government items used to destroy classified documents. When a reporter asked about FBI Director Kash Patel finding burn bags containing Russia investigation materials, Trump initially responded, “He said what?”
After the reporter repeated the question twice more, Trump finally said, “Oh, I thought you said appointed a man named Burn Bag, go ahead.” The mix-up over common government terminology drew widespread mockery online, with many questioning how a president could be unfamiliar with such basic security equipment.
This follows another troubling episode earlier this month at a migrant detention facility in Florida called “Alligator Alcatraz.” When asked how long detainees would stay at the facility, Trump completely missed the point of the question. Instead of discussing detention timeframes, he replied, “I’m gonna spend a lot. This is my home state. I love it. I’ll spend a lot of time here.”
The response prompted journalist Mike Rothschild to comment, “He’s obviously losing his cognition and coherence in a way that’s becoming impossible to cover up or work around.”
Mental health experts have grown increasingly concerned about what they see as signs of cognitive decline. Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist who taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School for years, believes Trump shows clear symptoms of dementia. Gartner points to Trump’s difficulty finishing thoughts and his tendency to substitute made-up words for real ones.
The psychologist predicts Trump’s condition will worsen during his second term, creating what he calls a “Weekend at Bernie’s” scenario where staff try to hide the president’s mental state rather than address it directly.
Language experts have also raised red flags. A detailed analysis found that Trump’s speech has become more scattered over time, with shorter sentences, confused word order, and long tangents that lose track of the original topic. Clinical psychologist Dr. Ben Michaelis noted that Trump is moving away from logical thinking toward what experts call “circumstantiality.”
“That’s really where you sort of start talking about a topic, and then you just really sort of lose the thread entirely,” Michaelis explained during a PBS NewsHour interview. “And there’s a lot of that we’re seeing in his speech patterns.”
Other incidents have added to the concerns. During an energy summit in Pittsburgh this week, Trump told a fabricated story about his uncle teaching the Unabomber at MIT. However, the Unabomber never attended MIT, and Trump’s uncle had died years before the bomber was caught. He also wrongly claimed President Biden appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, when Trump himself made that appointment in 2017.
MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen argues that Trump sometimes seems unaware of major events happening in his own administration, and can seem clueless about major policy events. Trump appeared confused about his administration’s decision to pause military aid to Ukraine, asking a reporter if she knew who had ordered the halt.
At 79, Trump is the oldest person ever sworn in as president for a second time. If he serves a full term, he would become the oldest sitting president in U.S. history.
Trump’s doctor released a health report in April claiming the president was in “excellent health” and passed cognitive tests. The report said bruising on Trump’s hand came from taking aspirin and frequent handshaking. However, critics note this assessment came from Trump’s personal physician rather than an independent medical evaluation.
Harry Segal, a psychology lecturer at Weill Cornell Medicine, sees troubling patterns in Trump’s recent behavior. He points out that Trump has been avoiding events where he needs to respond quickly and clearly, including refusing a second presidential debate and canceling a “60 Minutes” interview.
“Second, he has become more impulsive, another sign of incipient dementia,” Segal said.
The Trump campaign dismisses these concerns as partisan attacks. Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin has said Trump appears to be “slowing down,” but campaign officials reject such observations.
Some Republican lawmakers are reportedly being urged to investigate Trump’s mental fitness, marking a significant development since such calls typically come from political opponents rather than allies.
Medical professionals stress that proper diagnosis of cognitive decline requires in-person evaluation by qualified doctors. However, the growing number of public incidents has intensified scrutiny of Trump’s mental sharpness as his second term continues.
Trump maintains he feels “about 35 years old” and describes his cognitive health as “exceptional.” His supporters argue his speaking style has always been unconventional and that critics are reading too much into his normal behavior.
The debate over Trump’s mental fitness reflects broader questions about age and leadership capability in American politics, especially as both major parties have fielded older candidates in recent elections.
