It's 2026. The headlines aren't just about policy anymore. They’re about whether the person behind the Resolute Desk is actually "there" in the way we need a president to be. Honestly, the conversation around whether is trump showing signs of dementia has moved from the fringes of social media straight into the offices of clinical psychologists and the front pages of major news outlets.
You've probably seen the clips. A sudden pause. A strange word that sounds like English but isn't quite. A story about a whale that seems to come out of nowhere. For some, it's just "Trump being Trump." For others, like Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist who has become a vocal critic on this specific issue, these aren't just personality quirks. They are "telltale signs" of a brain that is struggling to keep up.
What experts are actually seeing
When we talk about cognitive decline, we aren't just talking about forgetting where you put your keys. We’re talking about specific, observable patterns.
Take "phonemic paraphasia," for instance. It's a fancy term medical pros use when someone starts a word and just... can't finish it, or swaps in a sound that doesn't belong. Harry Segal, a senior lecturer at Cornell University, has pointed to this repeatedly. He’s noted that Trump’s tendency to get "lost" during rallies—confusing names like Biden and Obama or inventing phrases like "eight circles"—isn't just a slip of the tongue. It's a possible indicator of early-stage dementia.
Then there’s the physical side of things. Have you noticed the way he walks lately?
In late 2025 and early 2026, observers started fixating on something called a "right leg swing." Dr. Gartner and a few neurologists have suggested this semicircular gait could be a marker for Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).
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It looks like this:
- The right leg swings out in a wide arc instead of moving straight forward.
- It looks heavy, almost like "dead weight."
- This is often paired with a "wide-based gait" to maintain balance.
The White House, of course, says he's in "perfect health." Dr. Sean Barbabella, the President’s current physician, released a report in early 2026 claiming Trump "aced" his cognitive exam for the third time. Trump himself took to Truth Social to brag about it, saying he got 100% and that "STUPID" people shouldn't run the country.
But there’s a catch. The test he’s likely talking about—the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)—is designed to catch severe impairment. It asks you to identify an elephant or draw a clock. Aced it? Great. But experts say that for a man with a "demanding daily schedule," passing a basic screening doesn't rule out more nuanced decline.
The 2025 "DJ Moment" and disinhibition
Remember that Philadelphia town hall where he just stopped talking and played music for 30 minutes? That was a turning point for a lot of people.
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Clinical experts call this "disinhibition." Basically, the part of your brain that tells you "hey, maybe don't stop a political event to bob your head to Pavarotti for half an hour" starts to fail. It’s an impulsivity issue. In 2025, we saw more of this—sudden pivots to talk about the Unabomber or interior decor in the middle of high-stakes briefings.
It’s not just the rambling. It's the nature of the rambling. It’s becoming more "tangential." That’s a medical way of saying he starts at Point A, goes to Point Z, and forgets Point A ever existed.
Why this matters right now
- The Midterms: Trump is pushing hard for the 2026 midterms, telling Republicans they must win to prevent impeachment.
- Public Trust: A YouGov poll from late 2025 showed that 63% of Americans believe his age and health are affecting his ability to do the job.
- Safety: We aren't just talking about optics. Cognitive health affects decision-making, especially under the "severe stress" experts say he's facing due to ongoing legal pressures and international tensions.
Is it just "Sanewashing"?
There's this concept called "sanewashing" that has gained a lot of traction lately. It's the idea that the media takes a 90-minute incoherent ramble and picks out the two minutes that make sense to create a news story. When you see the full, unedited footage, the question of is trump showing signs of dementia feels a lot more urgent than when you just read the transcript of his "best" parts.
Even those close to him have admitted, off the record, that things have changed. Reports from late 2025 suggested staffers have to speak much louder in meetings because he struggles to hear, and he’s been caught "closing his eyes" (some say napping) during daytime events. He claims he's just "blinking" or "relaxing," but the pattern of low energy in the mornings—with a workday that often doesn't start until noon—is a stark contrast to his first term.
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What you can do to stay informed
Diagnosing someone from a TV screen is technically against the "Goldwater Rule," which says psychiatrists shouldn't give opinions on people they haven't personally examined. However, many experts now argue that when it comes to a sitting president, the "duty to warn" the public outweighs professional etiquette.
If you're trying to figure out what's real and what's partisan noise, look for these three things:
- Linguistic Complexity: Is he using simpler words than he did five or ten years ago? (STAT News says yes).
- Motor Function: Watch the gait. Is the "leg swing" becoming more pronounced?
- Contextual Appropriateness: Are his reactions matching the situation, or is he becoming more impulsive and erratic?
The White House continues to insist he is "fully fit," but the frequency of these bizarre public moments isn't slowing down. As he nears his 80th birthday in June 2026, the scrutiny is only going to get more intense.
Actionable Next Steps:
Keep a close watch on unscripted, long-form appearances rather than highly edited campaign clips. Pay attention to "phonemic paraphasia" (word-mashing) during his late-night rallies, as experts suggest these symptoms often worsen when the person is tired—a phenomenon known as "sundowning." Check for updates from independent medical analysts who track cognitive markers in public figures to get a view that isn't filtered through White House press releases.