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02-01-2026
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about his health in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, despite scrutiny of his sometimes-drowsy appearance and the patches of makeup that have recently appeared on his hand.
The interview appeared in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper. In its pages, the Wall Street Journal reporters confronted Trump with questions about his age, fitness and statements about his recent health treatments.
The US president appeared to respond with some mild irritation at points. “Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” Trump told the interviewers at the outset of their conversation.
Trump is currently 79 years old. Should he complete his second term in full, he will be 82 years old by its conclusion.
That would make him the oldest sitting president in US history, breaking the record set by his predecessor, Joe Biden but just as Biden faced scrutiny for his ageing mind and body, so too has Trump. Since taking office for a second term in January 2025, Trump has been recorded appearing to nod off during public appearances, and close-up images of his hand as recently as December show thick patches of makeup.
Trump himself also raised alarm in October when he told reporters that he had undergone a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, a procedure commonly used to diagnose and monitor serious conditions such as cancer, heart disease and other disorders that affect soft tissue.
In Thursday’s interview, Trump backtracked, clarifying that he had not received an MRI scan but rather a computed tomography (CT) scan, which offers less detail and is faster.
One of his doctors had previously identified the procedure as a CT scan instead of an MRI, too.
When discussing the mix-up, Trump told The Wall Street Journal he regretted getting any procedure at all, as it fueled his critics as well as media speculation.
“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump told the newspaper.
“I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”
He denied having any ailments whatsoever. “My health is perfect,” he told the reporters.
Trump also rejected the idea that he had dozed off at public meetings. In one instance Trump’s December 2 cabinet meeting, the president’s eyelids appeared to droop, and he slouched forward, as if nodding off but in his Wall Street Journal interview, Trump blamed the media for creating false rumours. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,” he said of the alleged sleeping incidents.
Still, he acknowledged to the newspaper that he had asked White House staff to slim down his schedule to focus on more important meetings, though he emphasized the decision had nothing to do with his alertness or stamina.
“I’ve never been a big sleeper,” Trump said.
One of the big revelations from the Journal’s interview was the high volume of aspirin Trump admitted to taking.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump said. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
