President Trump and The Mystery of His Health

President Trump at the White House Conference on American History. Courtesy of The Trump White House Archive via Flickr.

We, the people of the United States, have the right to know if our sitting president is healthy enough to fulfill his role, right? 

President Donald Trump’s health has been a topic of speculation over the past few weeks. 

The president was not seen for a few consecutive days, and rumors started to circulate on the internet. Many users across a multitude of platforms, such as X, Instagram and TikTok, began to assess the president’s current state. For the past month, he has been seen with a large purple bruise on his right hand, which is often covered by make-up and his ankles are swollen from chronic venous insufficiency. Not to mention, he is the oldest president to hold office.

The internet came to two conclusions: Trump was either dead or about to die, and it was being covered up.

This may seem rash to most, but Trump has not been known to ever go radio silent, especially about a rumor solely concerning him. 

During a cabinet meeting held on Sept. 2, journalist Peter Doocy, of Fox News, asked the president to comment on the viral rumors. Doocy asked Trump, "About a big viral social media trend over the weekend: How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead? Did you see that?" Trump simply responded with the word, “No”. 

Then, instead of providing any information on where he was or what he was doing, Trump turned the conversation into a chance to deflect and make a comment about former President Joe Biden’s health while he was in office.

"Biden wouldn't do them [interviews] for months, you wouldn't see him, and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him, and we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape," Trump stated.

This, however, is blatantly untrue. Throughout Biden’s entire presidency, many citizens were openly concerned about his health, and it was a largely debated topic amongst politicians as well.

It seems as though Trump is avoiding being completely honest about his health and is pulling one of his well-known tactics, deflecting.

As previously mentioned, Trump has recently stated he has chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which the veins in the lower legs do not function properly, leading to blood pooling and increased blood pressure. This announcement was made following photos of the president’s swollen ankles and calves, along with strange bruising on his right hand. 

While his diagnosis explains his physical ailments, the public is still very obviously being shielded from the extent of his current health state. If the president were truly the picture of health, knowing him, he would be very flamboyant about this fact and provide evidence to prove himself. 

Though it is not a legal right, it is safe to say that Americans deserve the right to know their sitting president’s current state of health, especially when the president’s health is visibly affected. It’s only ethical.

With that being said, Trump has never been one to follow ethical guidelines, so why would he start now? Why would he change his ways when he always gets his way? 

Currently, the public still does not know where the president was during his multiple days of silence, and we do not know much more about his health than what our eyes can see: a 79-year-old man is not the picture of health, and yet, he is our elected leader.