President Joe Biden is currently the oldest U.S. president at a whopping 81 years old, and he will be 82 years old by the end of his term. Concerns were raised about Biden’s age and ability to handle another four years in office during the 2024 presidential election as 80% of voters thought he was too old to serve again. Biden’s “cognitive decline” was highlighted in a side-by-side clip of a 2020 debate versus a 2024 debate. He dropped out of the 2024 presidential election just a few weeks later.
Former president Donald Trump, only three years younger than Biden, has been re-elected and will serve as president from 2024 to 2028. He will be 81 years old by the end of his term, so it is a very real possibility that he will face the same decline that Biden did.
Peter Baker, senior White House correspondent at The New York Times, analyzed some of Trump’s speeches and noted some striking instances of Trump misremembering recent, key details, names and faces as well as the rulers of certain countries. Baker also pointed out how Trump’s elocution, or his style of speaking, indicates Trump “has a hard time focusing. He often doesn’t stick to the same point for very long. He kind of roams from thought to thought.”
Seeing as Trump is experiencing similar difficulties to Biden before stepping into office, he may end up in worse condition than Biden much sooner. He should have taken a page out of Biden’s book and sat this election out. This presidency will take a far greater toll on him than his previous one.
Presidents face “unabated, unfathomable stress,” according to Ronan Factora, a physician specializing in geriatric medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. “[Their] cognition slows, [they] may feel more depressed, [their] ability to concentrate goes down. And it just builds on itself — a real cascade,” Factora said.
Trump’s current age, inevitable exposure to chronic stress and his lack of sufficient physical activity will all play significant roles in wearing him down during his presidency. It will be no surprise if a year or two from now, Trump’s running mate JD Vance and his cabinet will have their hands full trying to preserve a faulty image of Trump’s physical health and mental status. After all, he is no spring chicken, and he is not immune to the harsh realities of aging.
