With five months to go until the midterm elections, Donald Trump has spent much of the past week out of public view, raising questions about his health and fitness for office. The president, who will turn 80 on June 14, has held no public events open to the White House press corps since a cabinet meeting on May 27, the day after his physical examination at Walter Reed hospital.
His schedule has been filled with 'executive time' in the residence, policy meetings, and private dinners. On Wednesday, the White House opened a previously closed executive order signing to the press, where Trump repeated familiar boasts about repainting the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and claiming crime had dropped in Washington, D.C.
The lack of public engagement continues a trend since February, when Trump launched the war with Iran. Data from the White House Transition Project shows a sharp decline in his press interactions: from 21 Q&A sessions in the first 58 days of his term to 32 in the following 61 days after the war began, a reduction in frequency. He also stopped holding campaign rallies.
Initially, Trump made up for his invisibility by phoning reporters, including The Independent, for 138 interviews in 61 days. But even that has slowed recently. Observers have noted signs of fatigue: he often appears exhausted, closes his eyes for long periods, and has bruising on his hands (attributed to aspirin and handshakes), swelling in his legs (chronic venous insufficiency), and a rash on his neck.
Despite this, aides insist he has 'boundless energy,' pointing to his late-night Truth Social posts. The war in Iran has driven up petrol prices and dented his approval ratings, raising the prospect of significant losses for his party in the midterms.
