Since the beginning of his second term, last January, the American president has been everywhere: on television sets, on social networks. He gives the impression of working tirelessly, hosting foreign leaders at the White House and traveling abroad for summit meetings.
However, at 79, Trump is the oldest US president, and his age is starting to wear on him. The New York Times returned to the question of the president’s age, analyzing his daily schedule, the number of his public appearances and comparing them, with his previous term (2016-2020). The conclusion is not favorable to Trump, who was quick to attack the “lunatics on the Left” who signed the related NYT article, claiming that the recent medical tests he underwent were excellent.
He appears in the media more often than Biden
It is a fact that Trump remains a presence in US public life, and that he appears much more often in the media than his predecessor, the Democratic president, only three years his senior, whom he still calls “Sleeping Joe”.
Still, nearly a year into his second term, Americans see less of Trump than they used to. According to the NYT’s analysis of his daily schedule, Trump has held fewer public events and traveled far less domestically than in 2017, although he has increased foreign travel. At the same time, he has shortened his program.
Most of his public appearances are between 12 noon and 5 pm. while sometimes he seems to get tired. It is typical that on November 6, during an event in the Oval Office, which began at 12 noon, Trump sat behind his desk for about 20 minutes, while around him, executives, talked about weight loss drugs. At one point, his eyelids grew heavy and his eyes almost closed, and he seemed to fall asleep for a few seconds. He recovered quickly but stood up only when one of the guests fainted.
Allergy to exercise
As during his first term, Trump does not exercise regularly, in part because he believes people have a “finite amount of energy,” which vigorous exercise depletes. He still eats red meat and junk food like McDonald’s.
But according to his doctor, Dr. Barbarella, he has lost weight: from the 111 kg he weighed in 2020, he now weighs 101 kg, for a height of 1.91 meters (this weight is considered obesity for his height). Last April, this same doctor confirmed that “President Trump’s mental and physical health is excellent and he is fully capable of performing the duties of head of the armed forces and head of state.”
The president’s events begin at noon
According to the NYT analysis, Trump is starting his first official event later than in the past. In 2017, its events started at 10:31 a.m. but now they start at 12:08 p.m. and end around the same time, shortly after 5 p.m. His total number of official appearances has dropped by 39%. In 2017, from January 20 to November 25, it had held 1,688 official events; in the same period this year, the number dropped to 1,029.
Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, White House physician from 2000 to 2013 and author of a book on the health of presidents, noted that Trump’s schedule differs significantly from that of George W. Bush, who was 54 when he took office, and Barack Obama, who was 47. Both former presidents had built exercise into their daily routine: Bush was in the Oval Office by 6:45 a.m. every day. while Obama arrived at 10 a.m., and his workday often stretched until 7 p.m., when he would meet his family for dinner.
Referring to Trump, Kuhlman said it’s “admirable” that at his age, he’s still boarding Air Force One from the outside staircase, but added that “we don’t know what he does once the door closes.”
Low popularity rates
Due to his low approval ratings (41%), his advisers are pushing the US president to move more within the US from now on and deal with issues that concern the average American. His age, however, may stand in the way of additional movements.
