A top doctor has sounded the alarm on President Donald Trump’s habit of falling asleep during meetings, saying it could be a sign of something sinister.
Trump, who turns 80 next month, has appeared to nod off during several engagements, most recently at a Memorial Day event at Arlington Cemetery on Monday. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and the director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at the George Washington University Hospital, and also cardiologist to the late former Vice President Dick Cheney, has said this could be evidence of a “severe illness.”
Speaking about Trump’s long list of issues, ahead of his visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center for a checkup on Tuesday, Reiner honed in on Trump’s sleeping habits.
“The president has severe daytime somnolence. He falls asleep very often. He’s fallen asleep in the Oval Office on multiple occasions with people talking to him in the Cabinet room, and I was concerned yesterday that he might have fallen asleep at Arlington National Cemetery during Memorial Day observances,” Reiner said on CNN News Central.
He added a warning: “Chronic insomnia is a severe illness. It can result in an increase in risk of dementia, decrease in cognitive effects in older people.”
Davis Ingle, the White House spokesman, called Reiner a “hack doctor” in response. “If it quacks like a duck, it may actually just be a Democrat hack doctor,” he told the Daily Beast in a statement.
“President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history and any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath they’ve sworn to.”
But despite Ingle’s assertions, there have been many examples of Trump appearing to fall asleep of late. See here, here, here, here and here. And he actually admits it here.
There has also been increasing speculation about Trump’s mental acuity of late. Last month. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in an interview with Politico that he believes the president “has dementia.” Many medical experts agree that he is showing signs of the disease his father suffered from.
Last month, Democratic Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin pressed the White House physician for a full evaluation of Trump’s cognitive abilities. In a letter to Sean Barbabella, the Navy captain serving as Trump’s official doctor, Raskin argued that Trump’s behavior warrants a “comprehensive cognitive assessment.”
Raskin, who demanded the results be shared publicly, echoed the concerns of professionals and said: “Experts have repeatedly warned that the President has been exhibiting signs consistent with dementia and cognitive decline. And, in recent days, the country has watched President Trump’s public statements and outbursts turn increasingly incoherent, volatile, profane, deranged, and threatening,” wrote Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
“His apparently deteriorating condition has caused tremendous alarm across the nation (and political spectrum) about the President’s cognitive function and continuing mental fitness for the office of President, and prompted concerns about the President’s wellbeing.”
His public naps have become harder to ignore, too. Despite his propensity to slam opponents as low energy, see “Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump has appeared to nod off several times during his second term.
Trump, who reportedly doesn’t sleep much at night, has been caught with his eyes closed during diplomatic meetings, memorial ceremonies, church services, and lengthy policy briefings.
The most irrefutable example came in November during a press conference about drug prices. “DOZY DON IS BACK!” declared Trump’s arch enemy, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a post on X featuring an image of the 79-year-old slumped in his chair, eyes firmly closed.
There have since been regular instances of Trump falling asleep, or slowly “blinking” as the White House would have you believe. On May 12, Trump was hosting an event on maternal health when he seemed to nod off behind his desk while surrounded by Cabinet members.
After speculation that he was fully asleep spread on social media, the White House’s rapid response team reacted angrily. “He was blinking, you absolute moron,” the X account wrote in response to a Reuters photograph of the president with his eyes shut.
