US President Donald Trump has ignited fresh health controversy after telling a crowd that planes “didn’t exist” during his late father Fred’s lifetime – despite aviation beginning in 1903 and Fred Trump living until 1999.
The viral moment came during a speech on Monday (July 27) at a General Motors vehicle-testing facility in Milford, Michigan, where Trump was addressing auto workers and executives. While praising American car makers, he drifted into a story about his father as he tried to make a point about what “luxury” meant in the Trump household.
Trump's remarks on planes
Trump told the crowd: “I had a wonderful father, right, and he was a hard worker who was in the real estate business...He didn’t want planes. They didn’t have planes in those days, I don’t think.” He then pivoted back to his real point – that his dad’s idea of “super luxury” was buying a new Cadillac every two years, not owning private aircraft.
Moments later, Trump even nodded to his famously rambling style, telling the audience: “Just to mention, you know, it’s called the weave, right? I go from one - we always get back to the right subject.”
Online backlash
The “planes” line instantly exploded online. Commentator Ed Krassenstein posted on X: “BREAKING: Trump claims that airplanes didn’t exist when his father was alive. Fred Trump was born in 1905 and died in 1999.” Critics pointed out the Wright brothers made the first powered flight in 1903 – before Fred Trump was born.
Aviation didn’t just exist during Fred Trump’s life, it dominated it, spanning World War II air warfare, the rise of commercial jet travel and even Concorde. Others noted the first commercial flight was a 17-mile hop from Tampa to St Petersburg in 1914 – when Fred Trump was nine. One furious post read: “Facts are stubborn things.”
The backlash also fuelled darker jabs about Trump’s mental sharpness. One user wrote: “Senility has a MAGA voice,” while another claimed: “He clearly inherited his father’s Alzheimer’s gene.” A separate commenter accused him of bluffing, asking: “Do narcissists lie because they believe that people just take what they say as the truth without checking?”
Health concerns
Despite rumours and constant speculations online, Trump has no official diagnosis of dementia. With the former President now 80, his mental sharpness has become a constant talking point in US politics. Born on June 14, 1946, his health is often framed as a tug-of-war between glowing official assessments and a chorus of outside critics questioning what they see and hear in public.
