Donald Trump's grasp of reality was again thrown into doubt in Washington, after the US president claimed he had 'settled eight wars,' even as senior American doctors publicly branded him 'mentally unfit' to hold office.
Concern over the 78‑year‑old Republican's health has been building for years, fuelled by his meandering speeches, visible physical decline and a social media output that oscillates between late‑night rants and meme storms.
Type 'Donald Trump' into Google, and 'health problems' is now one of the first suggested searches, jostling with 'Iran' and tabloid‑friendly speculation about his marriage. What began as internet mockery has hardened into something more clinical: a debate over whether the man who wants to return to the White House is still fully in command of his mind and body.
The latest flashpoint came when Trump told reporters earlier this month: 'I settled eight wars. And in every case, the people, the prime ministers or presidents, wrote letters thanking me.' The remark, delivered with his usual certainty, prompted bafflement from viewers and critics who pointed out that no such record of eight resolved conflicts exists.
Video of the exchange ricocheted across social media, with one widely shared reaction declaring: 'The President has lost touch with reality.' Nothing about these war claims has been independently verified.
The 'eight wars' boast sits on top of a growing pile of clips that have left even some of Trump's supporters shifting uncomfortably. His public appearances frequently veer into what detractors call 'word salad' territory, with sentences changing subject halfway through and threads of thought abandoned mid‑air.
Doctors and commentators have been flagging what they see as signs of cognitive slippage since at least 2024. In one speech that year, aimed at attacking Joe Biden, Trump suddenly diverted into an impromptu tribute to the long‑dead Hollywood star Cary Grant. 'How good was Cary Grant?' he beamed to a puzzled crowd, the transition as abrupt as it was unexplained.
It is this jumble of topics, the casual grandiosity and the vacant pauses that unnerves specialists. In an assessment published on 30 April, a group of senior US doctors told theBritish Medical Journalthat Trump was 'mentally unfit,' arguing that 'it doesn't take a psychiatrist to know that the US President has demonstrated erratic behaviour.' They did not, however, release detailed medical records or formal test results to back that conclusion, leaving their judgment open to challenge.
Trump's own online behaviour hardly reassures them. His Truth Socialposts frequentlyappear in the small hours, filled with sprawling sentences, insults and a remarkable number of memes. To some, it resembles the online diary of a retiree with too much time and not enough sleep. To others, it is the unfiltered mind of a man still wielding extraordinary political influence. Either way, it is unusual output for someone seeking to reclaim the most powerful office in the world.
The White House, for its part, brushes off talk of mental decline, pointing to Trump's punishing rally schedule and arguing that political opponents are weaponising age and health to do what they cannot achieve at the ballot box. Independent, transparent cognitive testing would go some way to settling the matter, but for now, both the assessments and the counter‑claims remain contested.
Source: International Business Times UK
