President Donald Trump has raised new concerns regarding his mental acuity this week after having difficulty comprehending basic questions posed by reporters during events at the White House.
The latest occurrence took place on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, when Trump appeared confused about “burn bags,” which are standard government tools used to destroy classified documents. When asked about FBI Director Kash Patel finding burn bags with materials related to the Russia investigation, Trump initially replied, “He said what?”
After the reporter repeated the question twice more, Trump finally said, “Oh, I thought you said appointed a man named Burn Bag, go ahead.” This misunderstanding of common government terminology resulted in widespread online criticism, with many questioning the president’s familiarity with basic security equipment.
This incident follows a previous one earlier this month at a migrant detention facility in Florida known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” When asked about the duration of detainees’ stay, Trump missed the question’s context, responding instead, “I’m gonna spend a lot. This is my home state. I love it. I’ll spend a lot of time here.”
Journalist Mike Rothschild commented on the response, stating, “He’s obviously losing his cognition and coherence in a way that’s becoming impossible to cover up or work around.”
Mental health experts have expressed growing concern about what they interpret as indications of cognitive decline. Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist formerly affiliated with Johns Hopkins University Medical School, believes Trump displays clear symptoms of dementia, citing his difficulty in completing thoughts and his habit of substituting fabricated words for real ones.
The psychologist predicts that Trump’s condition will deteriorate during his second term, creating a scenario akin to “Weekend at Bernie’s,” where staff members attempt to conceal the president’s mental status rather than address it directly.
Language experts have also expressed concerns. A comprehensive analysis indicates that Trump’s speech has become more disorganized over time, with shorter sentences, jumbled word order, and lengthy tangents that deviate from the original subject. Clinical psychologist Dr. Ben Michaelis noted that Trump is moving away from logical thinking toward what experts term “circumstantiality.”
“That’s really where you sort of start talking about a topic, and then you just really sort of lose the thread entirely,” Michaelis explained during a PBS NewsHour interview. “And there’s a lot of that we’re seeing in his speech patterns.”
Other incidents have furthered the concerns. During an energy summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Trump recounted a fabricated story about his uncle teaching the Unabomber at MIT. However, the Unabomber never attended MIT, and Trump’s uncle passed away years before the bomber was apprehended. Trump also incorrectly claimed that President Biden appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, when in fact, Trump himself made that appointment in 2017.
MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen argues that Trump sometimes seems unaware of significant events occurring within his own administration, and can seem clueless about major policy events. Trump appeared confused about his administration’s decision to pause military aid to Ukraine, asking a reporter if she knew who had ordered the halt.
At 79, Trump is the oldest person ever sworn in as president for a second time. If he completes a full term, he would become the oldest sitting president in U.S. history.
Trump’s doctor released a health report in April asserting that the president was in “excellent health” and had passed cognitive tests. The report mentioned that bruising on Trump’s hand resulted from taking aspirin and frequent handshaking. However, critics note that this assessment came from Trump’s personal physician rather than an independent medical evaluation.
Harry Segal, a psychology lecturer at Weill Cornell Medicine, has noted concerning patterns in Trump’s recent behavior. He points out that Trump has been avoiding events where he must respond quickly and clearly, including refusing a second presidential debate and canceling a “60 Minutes” interview.
“Second, he has become more impulsive, another sign of incipient dementia,” Segal said.
The Trump campaign dismisses these concerns as partisan attacks. Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin has commented that Trump appears to be “slowing down,” but campaign officials reject such observations.
Some Republican lawmakers are reportedly being urged to investigate Trump’s mental fitness, marking a significant development since such calls typically come from political opponents rather than allies.
Medical professionals emphasize that proper diagnosis of cognitive decline requires in-person evaluation by qualified doctors. However, the increasing number of public incidents has heightened scrutiny of Trump’s mental acuity as his second term continues.
Trump maintains he feels “about 35 years old” and describes his cognitive health as “exceptional.” His supporters argue that his speaking style has always been unconventional and that critics are overanalyzing his usual behavior.
The debate over Trump’s mental fitness reflects broader questions about age and leadership capability in American politics, especially as both major parties have fielded older candidates in recent elections.