A leading doctor is among those suggesting that President Donald Trump may be showing signs of cognitive decline, and it seems to be getting worse fast.
Dr Vin Gupta, a lung specialist, assistant professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and medical analyst for NBC News, mentioned Trump’s family history of dementia. He says he’s noticing a trend line and thinks it seems like it’s getting worse.
Trump’s dad passed away at 93 from pneumonia, made worse by Alzheimer’s, after having been diagnosed with dementia.
Gupta pointed out that Trump has had trouble expressing himself lately, plus he’s struggling to control his speech and stay focused.
He has trouble finding the right words, Gupta said. He’s inattentive and loses his train of thought. People are saying his speeches wander all over the place, jumping between 30 different topics in like, two minutes.
Gupta also brought up Trump’s memory problems, like when he confused Greenland with Iceland during a speech at the World Economic Forum.
Gupta thinks Trump’s message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, blaming Norway for not giving him the Nobel Peace Prize, is another worrying sign of his mental state.
The fact that he’d even make a statement like that has people worried, Gupta said. Who does that? It’s not something we’d expect from him in terms of proper behaviour.
Gupta thinks the message to Støre means there should be a more thorough public look at his neurological health because it crossed a line of proper adult behaviour.
Gupta also said Trump is showing signs of early Alzheimer’s or frontotemporal dementia, saying a lot of what the president does fits with those diagnoses.
The acting out, behaviour changes, lashing out, and acting unreasonably, Gupta said. You could say it’s just his personality, based on what we’ve seen his whole life, but it’s getting worse.
Like others, Gupta has also noticed Trump’s awkward walking and trouble with the stairs of Air Force One in Davos.
He seems to be walking carefully, and it’s hard to know what to make of that. But when you combine that with the other signs about his mental abilities, it makes you wonder what’s really going on, he said.
