Concerns are mounting over U.S. President Donald Trump, who turns 80 in June this year. During the last presidential election, Trump attacked his rival, former President Joe Biden, claiming he showed "possible dementia due to old age." Now Trump faces the same concerns himself.
According to a poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos released on the 24th (local time), six in ten Americans said "President Trump has become unstable as he has aged." Among Democrats, 89% expressed such concerns, along with 65% of independents. Even 30% of Republican supporters shared this view.
The share of respondents who described Trump as "mentally sharp and capable of handling challenges" fell to 45%, down from 54% in a September 2023 survey. The decline was particularly steep among independents, dropping from 53% to 36% over the same period.
In his second term, Trump has sparked daily debate over reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries and crackdowns on illegal immigration. Some analysts say he displays anger more frequently than during his first term. Last week, he called it "absolutely disgraceful" that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court ruled significant portions of his tariffs illegal. In November, he labeled Democratic lawmakers who urged soldiers to refuse illegal orders as traitors and raised the possibility of execution.
Trump's attacks on Biden's cognitive decline due to age proved highly effective during the 2024 campaign. Biden left office at 82 as the oldest president in U.S. history. But Trump will end his term at 83, one year older, making him the oldest president ever.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle dismissed the survey results as a "desperate fake narrative," stating that "Trump's sharp judgment, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility differentiate him from his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden."
The online poll was conducted over six days with 4,638 adults nationwide. The margin of error is ±2 percentage points.