Trump rages at report that he is increasingly frail
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US President Donald Trump taking questions from the media aboard Air Force One on Nov 25, en route to Florida.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Trump, 79, criticised a New York Times article questioning his energy levels and age, calling the reporting "a hit piece" and the author "ugly".
- Trump defended his work ethic, citing achievements and claiming he aced a recent "PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST".
- The NYT article highlighted Trump's reduced public appearances, travel, limited schedule and health concerns, while Trump branded the newspaper "ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE".
AI generated
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump raged on Nov 26 at a New York Times report that focused on his age and growing signs of fatigue, insisting that he is full of energy and calling the woman author of the article “ugly”.
“I have never worked so hard in my life. Yet despite all of this the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite,” the 79-year-old Republican posted on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Trump is the oldest person ever to have assumed the US presidency and the job has clearly weighed on him since starting a second term in January.
But in the lengthy post, sprinkled with words in all-caps and a misspelling, Mr Trump said the Times article published Nov 25 was ignoring his output.
He listed what he said were his many accomplishments, ranging from the election victory in 2024 to a strong US stock market and the settling of wars abroad.
He also boasted that he recently underwent a “PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (‘That was aced’) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN.”
Mr Trump does remain an omnipresent figure in the media, frequently fielding questions from journalists for marathon sessions – in sharp contrast to his predecessor Joe Biden, who left office at 81.
But while the White House public relations machine continues to portray Mr Trump as improbably virile – creating AI-generated pictures of him as muscle-bound superheroes and warriors – the Republican is visibly slowing down.
The report in the influential Times noted that Mr Trump has sharply reduced his public events and domestic travel, compared to his first term, and generally runs a public schedule between the hours of noon and 5pm.
During one televised event in the Oval Office earlier this month, Mr Trump appeared to fall asleep briefly.
There are unanswered questions about Mr Trump’s health, notably why he had an MRI scan in October
Mr Trump called the Times “truly an ‘ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.’“
And he branded the female reporter who wrote the Times report “ugly, both inside and out.”
Earlier this month, he called another woman journalist “piggy”
