US Politics
Tired Trump? 79-year-old president has massive decrease in public appearances in his second term
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President Donald Trump has appeared in public almost 40 percent less than he did during his first term and the time he begins the day on average is getting later, according to an analysis of his schedule.
At 79, Trump is the oldest person to be elected president and while his aides have pushed the idea that he is the picture of vitality, with an “unrelenting work ethic,” analysis by The New York Times suggests that he is slowing down compared to his first term.
The newspaper analyzed Trump’s official schedules logged in a database maintained by Roll Call and compared engagements during his first and second terms.
Trump’s official appearances dropped by 39 percent, according to the outlet. He held 1,688 official events between January 20 and November 25 in 2017. By contrast, he appeared in 1,029 official events for the same time period this year.
The analysis also revealed that Trump’s first scheduled events of the day started at 10:31 a.m. on average in 2017, while events during his second term have started more often in the afternoons at 12:08 p.m. His events ended on average at around the same time, shortly after 5 p.m.
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The president regularly enters the Oval Office after 11 a.m. after he complained during his first term that his mornings were overscheduled, a person familiar with his plans told the Times.
Despite the later starts and fewer appearances, Trump has racked up more international travel in his second term than he did during the first year of his first term, according to the report. In 2017, he took four international trips, while this year he has been on eight, including a one-day trip to Israel and Egypt in October.
The outlet’s report on the “realities of aging in office” noting that Trump’s “battery shows signs of wear” apparently struck a nerve.
“I have never worked so hard in my life,” Trump lashed out Wednesday on Truth Social. “Yet despite all of this the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite.”
“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!” Trump fumed.
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Despite Trump’s “perfect” test scores, there has been speculation over his health after he appeared to have bruising on the back of his hand and he was checked for “mild swelling” in his legs during the summer.
Former White House physician Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who has cared for Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton, noted to the Times that Trump is often “sedentary” when he is in the Oval Office.
At a recent event to tout weight loss drugs on Nov. 6, Trump stayed seated for 20 minutes and appeared to close his eyes and doze off for a few seconds.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt compared the Trump administration to former President Joe Biden’s, whose team shielded the public from his declining mental faculties in his final year.
“Unlike the Biden White House, who covered up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and hid him from the press, President Trump and his entire team have been open and transparent about the president’s health, which remains exceptional,” Leavitt said in a statement to the Times.
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She maintained that Trump is in “impressive physical and mental shape” and referred to two physical examinations released by the president.
It is up to Trump what he wishes to disclose to the public regarding his health and physicians often release summaries of medical tests without sharing further details. Trump recently revealed he got a “perfect score” on a cognitive test during a recent visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“One of the doctors said he’s almost never seen a perfect score,” he said. “I had a perfect score. I had the highest score. And that made me feel good.”
Many questions on the test, which is designed to measure cognitive impairment, not intelligence or IQ, are answerable by toddlers.
