Donald Trump’s biographer says the aging president is suffering from loneliness and paranoia as the strains of his second term weigh on his mental and physical health.
“He is paranoid, is angry ... things are not going well for him,” author Michael Wolff said on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast. “And what effect does that have on the overweight man who doesn’t exercise?”
Wolff said the second term is a “downer” for any president: “You have nothing to work toward. You know, you’re not running again, you see your end, and that must be frightening. And also, everyone is taking things from you.”
But for Trump, that second-term malaise has coincided with a deepening political crisis as his war with Iran drives up prices and sends his popularity among Americans plunging.
“The loneliness must set in probably exactly at the point Trump is now. He’s facing the midterms. They’re going to be a catastrophe for Trump,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles.
He added that Trump “clearly recognizes this is a catastrophe, and it’s going to be a catastrophe that is around his neck,” even if he publicly tries to sell the war as a success story.
Signs of Trump’s deepening frustration have emerged in repeated bitter meltdowns at reporters, political foes, and members of his own party.
After hawkish Republicans in Congress raised concerns about the president’s negotiations with Iran over the weekend, the president lashed out at “losers” who criticize him, while comparing his legacy with that of President Barack Obama.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” he wrote on Sunday. “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet.”
“So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about,” he continued. “Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”
Wolff argued that the president’s anger over his mounting setbacks, combined with his notoriously unhealthy lifestyle, could take a devastating toll on his health.
“The man is a mess, the man is a wreck,” Wolff said. “And I don’t think it’s getting any easier for him in this job. The job itself, you know, the presidency is a, oh, man, it’s a high-pressure job.”
The author, who spent several months in the White House during Trump’s first term while writing his best-seller Fire and Fury, said that the president “doesn’t do a lick of exercise,” and eats the “worst diet on the planet.”
“And he looks terrible. I mean ... day by day you can ... see this,” he said. “He looks exhausted.”
When reached for comment, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the Daily Beast in a statement, “Michael Wolff is the biggest moron in media. What an absolute dumba--. He needs to skip the Quaaludes for breakfast.”
Trump, who turns 80 next month, visited Walter Reed Medical Center for his fourth medical evaluation in just over a year on Tuesday, later writing on Truth Social, “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”
But the president has faced growing scrutiny over his health during his second term. He frequently appears with bruises, swollen ankles, and rashes, while his repetition has caused a leading psychiatrist to question his mental fitness for office.
He has also taken to falling asleep during high-level events, most recently at a Memorial Day event at Arlington Cemetery on Monday, earning the nickname “Dozy Don.”
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