President Donald Trump is raging over snowballing reports on his apparent cognitive and physical decline.
This week was apparently particularly bad, as footage of him appearing to fight off sleep during a Cabinet meeting led to a new string of reports comparing him to his predecessor, Joe Biden, whom he’d famously dubbed “Sleepy Joe” and mocked for his old age.
Sources familiar with internal discussions say Trump, 79, was left fuming as a growing stream of reporting from publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN, scrutinized the signs of his apparent deteriorating health, according to Zeteo— all of them following the lead of the Daily Beast, which has been cataloging his growing frailty for months before others stopped ignoring it.
This week, AFP published an opinion piece titled: “Sleepy Don? Trump’s Health Under Fresh Scrutiny,” while the Daily Beast published another headlined: “How Sleepy Trump, 79, Became the D.C. Sequel Nobody Wanted to See.”
Sources close to the elderly president, both inside and outside of the administration, told Zeteo the negative press coverage of his health angers him more than almost any issue other than the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
“Trump will fixate on the offending news outlet or coverage for several days,” the publication noted.
“He is sensitive to being compared, even if not explicitly, to Sleepy Joe,” a Trump adviser said. “Especially if it’s coming from a reporter he already hates.”
Trump’s frustration has grown as he faces increased scrutiny for exhibiting many of the same signs of physical and cognitive slippage he once mocked Biden for. Media coverage has picked up on Trump’s display of troubling signs of mental decline, which has, in turn, fueled concerns about his fitness for the presidency.
One such example of a Trump slip-up occurred on Sept. 29, when, during a joint White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump incorrectly remembered when his first presidential term began.
Reports have also documented the president dozing off during Oval Office and Cabinet meetings, drifting off mid-sentence, and appearing with persistent bruising on his right hand. Trump has reportedly used heavy concealer to hide the bruising, which he has not publicly explained.
The White House has repeatedly pointed to a July 17 medical report saying Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which means the leg veins are insufficiently pushing blood back to the heart. They described it as a “benign and common condition” often seen in older individuals. Trump was taking aspirin as part of his health regimen, officials said.
Trump also underwent a surprise medical check described by aides as routine, though no details were released.
One Trump adviser who discussed the matter with him told Zeteo that the mainstream press is back on “this bulls---t again” about his health and mental fitness.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
In a statement to Zeteo, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s condition, saying: “As the president’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, has made clear time and again – and as the American people see with their own eyes every single day – President Trump remains in excellent overall health.”
“President Trump’s relentless work ethic, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in sharp contrast to what we saw during the past four years when the failing legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people,” she added.
“Pushing these fake and desperate narratives now about President Trump is why Americans’ trust in the media just fell to a new all-time low.”
