If you have spent much time on the net over the holiday, you know that questions swirl about Trump’s current health status. Purportedly, Trump went thirty days between rounds of golf. I have no idea whether someone actually saw Trump golf this weekend, though it was on his schedule. He also near stopped tweeting over the weekend, going from four to three to one on Saturday. That was unusual. Of course, this all comes two weeks after Trump was rushed off to the hospital without real explanation. Given Trump’s secretive nature and trouble with “truth,” it would be negligent to not speculate as to all that is happening.
Indeed, Newsweek has a new article focusing upon revelations contained in the new book “Anonymous; A Warning.” Anonymous states that though he/she is not competent to diagnose any issue, normal people around Trunp do see an issue, quickly:
“He stumbles, slurs, gets confused, is easily irritated, and has trouble synthesizing information, not occasionally but with regularity,”
What we see as covering criminal behavior may often be just a person declining in mental acuity, or a person with declining mental acuity also covering criminal behavior:
“Americans are used to him denying words that have come out of his mouth,” the senior official writes. “Sometimes this is to avoid responsibility.”
However, they say it often “appears Trump genuinely doesn’t remember important facts.”
Moreover, we are not talking about someone who had a lot of brainpower and judgment from which to diminish, according to Anonymous:
In addition to questioning Trump’s ability to recall basic terms that he has said or heard, the anonymous author also accuses the president of an “astounding” level of “intellectual laziness.” and was “bewildered how anyone could have run a private company on the empty mental tank President Trump relies upon every day to run the government.”
At this point, this ought to relieve us. After all, the only thing worse might be a president Trump staying up all night reading about how he might more effectively dismantle NATO.
But it isn’t just declining memory or intellectual laziness. There do appear to be some physical symptoms. Don’t take too much from any one video, nor any one person’s interpretation of any one video. But this Tweet did seem to catch some odd physical symptoms in Trump:
Trump in Afghanistan displays an odd gait. Here in slow motion, note the odd twist & drag of his right foot. Also note the left side. There appears to be some type of shock absorber heel on his shoe as he scrapes his foot on the downswing. He's probably receiving physical therapy pic.twitter.com/mQL4N3WXSk
— Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) November 29, 2019
I don’t know what to make of it. My daughter swears she sees that “shock absorber” on the left foot and she believes Trump is covering a limp. I put far more evidentiary weight onto the fact that Trump went thirty days without golfing, a huge gap in his normal routine.
The leading Twitter diagnosis (and that is ALL it is) is TIAs, “Transient Ischemic Attacks” or what are commonly called “mini-strokes,” tiny blockages in the brain. These can cause diminishing neurological function. Others speculate (because that is all this is, speculation) that Trump had a small stroke on the day he was rushed to the hospital. Some believe Trump has lost some functionality in his left arm associated with fine motor movement, hence no golfing.
He is back to slurring his speech again, as I documented here a few days ago, talking about the record “sock rocket,” (stock market).
One thing with which no one can quibble, Trump is a blathering idiot compared to what he was just six years ago. A reader sent me video of Trump on Letterman in 2013. One cannot help but see the diminished capacity when putting video today side by side with the 2013 video. (Bonus, Dave asks him about doing business with the Mob, and Trump calls them “good guys.”)
I don’t know how someone can watch the above and not acknowledge how much Trump has diminished. Just six years ago, Trump could speak in full sentences, use words associated with high school kids, and admit to being a “brat.” He cannot do any of it today.
There is evidence out there that Trump is in a fairly rapid decline, noticeable to all those around him, and that should frighten all of us. History has taught us that the worst abuses from “strongmen” often occur when the “strongman” is lashing out against his own failures. Moreover, as we’ve noted here many times, Trump doesn’t have any of the advisors that had the sort of gravitas that forced Trump to back down on occasion and ignore his worst instincts, the Mattis’s, Kellys, McGahns and even Bannons are gone.
The presidency wears at everyone, we’re not faulting Trump for getting “worn down.” That’s not the issue. But Trump may well have mental and physical health concerns that go well beyond anything he’s disclosed, including processes that impact rationality and patience. This is a particularly difficult time, coming at the end of the year, and impeachment happening. He leaves for the United Kingdom tonight for four days of meetings with NATO leaders on NATO’s anniversary. We will see how he fares. Generally, he doesn’t do well overseas. Many older people struggle with long travel and upset schedules, no matter how comfortable the traveling conditions.
Keep an eye out for odd behaviors, canceled speeches, or conflicts erupting. Trump has never faced the level of stress he is going to get in the near future, and is – by many accounts – not “well” as he starts into it.
Almost anything could happen, so many unknowns about the man who can order around the U.S. military and shape the world’s leading superpower’s foreign policy. We have fallen so far, so fast.
****
Peace, ya’ll
Jason
jmiciak@yahoo.com and on Twitter @MiciakZoom
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18 Comments on "Trump’s Recent Behavior Raises New Health Concerns"
My grandfather had those small strokes before his death. He would be speaking at the dinner table, stop for a few seconds, then either pick up where he left off, or talk about something completely different. It was heartwrenching, he was a nice man. He was born in 1893, he died at 93 years old. These episodes started happening a couple of years before his death. I don’t know what this means for trump, of course.
Circumstances being what they are, my guess is a vegetable or in the ground within the next two years.
My grandmother had “microstrokes” – she described one as like being kicked by a mule. Most of the damage she had was visual – she was legally blind, between those and cataracts (even after they were removed). usually she’d spend time in her room, then when she felt more herself, she’d come out again.
I wish trump would go to his room and never come out again.
Granny was a much better person.
45 is losing it. Add to that a malignant narcissist who will NEVER admit he has problems and here we are. Alzheimers can be hereditary. Daddy Trump had it. https://medium.com/@whitfieldlarrabee/like-father-like-son-the-troubling-problem-of-dementia-trumps-white-house-1ed5b7f232d2
That, and the Damocles impeachment, is why someone filed Pence with the FEC. Thanks for your writing.
Just why is it that there is a 25th amendment?
The only time I’ve heard of it being used is on that ‘How to Do Government Properly’ instructional video series, ‘Madame Secretary’.
It’s from 1967. LBJ had surgery.
There was a good West WIng episode on it too.
And I think it was used when Reagan was shot.
I’ve talked about this regularly with my mom, herself the victim of a stroke several years ago. Our bets remain on it being a petit mal stroke or a coronary episode (the latter of which, Mom tells me, can have a number of physical and mental effects similar to that of a stroke).
I remain less concerned than you, Jason, over the increasing viciousness. That was ALWAYS coming, regardless of his health. Also, the less capable the man at the top is, the easier disobedience becomes.
I read elseweb that he had a mild heart attack and they put in a stent. (He’s definitely in a risk category: his official health reports say so. Arterial blockages aren’t something to ignore, even though he’s trying to ignore everything that can’t be fixed with pills.)
https://www.cnn.com › 2018/01/17 › health › trump-heart-disease-gupta
(search on Trump stent)
better URL for that:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/health/trump-heart-disease-gupta/index.html
TWENTY-FIFTH AMENDMENT!
Yeah the moron has something wrong with him. The people around him are covering it up. You just don’t out of the blue run over to the hospital for a physical. I would say the lardass had a stroke. His dragging his foot while walking is telltale sign. Send him to McDonald’s for some more great food. Maybe he will collapse and save us from himself.
Is it time to queue up the face palms? It will be interesting to see what happens with NATO given how he has said it’s unnecessary and how they are not “paying their fair share”. I’d be willing to put money on him talking trash about them while he’s there and talking about how great he is. I’m wondering if he has sundowner’s syndrome – this refers to changes in behavior in the late afternoon and evening.