The recent bizarre public appearances of Donald Trump have once again raised questions about his mental health, experts say.
For over a year, the 79-year-old Trump has exhibited strange behavior at campaign events, in interviews, in his spontaneous remarks, and at press conferences, as reported by The Guardian.
The President repeatedly veers off topic, including during a cabinet meeting earlier this month, where he spent 15 minutes talking about decorating the White House and seemed to incorrectly recall simple situations about the government and his life.
During a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Trump abruptly shifted from discussing immigration to windmills: "The other thing I say to Europe: we will not allow the building of windmills in the United States. They kill us. They destroy the beauty of the landscapes."
Trump continued to speak incessantly about windmills, claiming without evidence that they "drive away" whales and that wind energy "kills birds" (the number of birds killed by wind turbines is small compared to those killed by cats or power lines).
The sudden topic changes in conversation are an example of Trump's "thoughtless digression" - "he simply changes subjects without having a coherent narrative," said Harry Segal, a lecturer in the psychology department at Cornell University and in the psychiatry department at Weill Cornell Medicine.
For years, Trump has ignored questions about his mental health, describing himself as a "genius" and boasting about "exceptional" exams – which later turned out to be very simple tests – checking for early signs of dementia.
However, Democrats have begun to more aggressively question the president's health, including Jasmine Crockett, a representative from Texas, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Just this week, they provided multiple examples of Trump's bizarre behavior.
Forgot Who Donated Aid for Gaza
Asked on Sunday about the famine in Gaza, Trump seemed unable to remember the aid that the US provided to Gaza and forgot that others had also contributed.
Trump claimed that the US gave $60 million "two weeks ago." He added: "No other country gave anything. None of the European countries, by the way, gave – nobody gave except us."
Trump seemed not to realize or remember that other countries had donated money for Gaza - the UK announced a £60 million package ($80 million) in July, and the European Union allocated €170 million ($195 million) in aid.
The Guardian could not find any evidence of the US providing $60 million to Gaza two weeks ago. And the White House did not respond to questions about the alleged donation.
Fabricates
Segal said that another questionable mental health characteristic of Trump is fabrication. "It's about the moment when he takes an idea or something that happened and adds things to it that didn't happen."
An example came in mid-July when Trump claimed that his late uncle, Professor John Trump, taught the Unabomber at MIT (Unabomber is the alias under which Theodore John Kaczynski, a former American mathematician turned terrorist, became known. Between 1978 and 1995, he sent mail bombs that killed 3 people and seriously injured 23).
The problem is: this cannot be true. Firstly, because Ted Kaczynski did not study at MIT.
"The story makes no sense, but it is told in a very warm way, as if he remembers it," Segal noted.
There have also been moments when Trump seemed unable to focus. During the 2024 campaign, he spent 40 minutes swaying to the music rhythm on stage.
Trump's incoherent speeches during his campaign also garnered attention.
"Any impartial mental health expert would be very concerned about how Donald Trump is manifesting," wrote Richard A. Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, Atlantic, after Trump's poor performance in his debate against Kamala Harris last September.
He added: "If a patient presented to me with the verbal incoherence, tangential thinking, and repetitive speech that Trump regularly demonstrates now, I would almost certainly refer him for a rigorous neuropsychiatric evaluation to rule out a cognitive illness."
Monologue about Decorating the Meeting Room, in Discussions about Floods and Wars
At a recent cabinet meeting called to discuss the Texas flood tragedy, the war in Ukraine and Gaza, the bombing of Iran, and global tariffs, Trump had a 15-minute monologue about... how he decorated the meeting room.
After talking about paintings he said he personally chose, Trump pointed out: "Look at those frames, you know, I'm a frame person, sometimes I like frames more than I like paintings," and added that he supervised the cleaning of some porcelain.
"I painted the room a beautiful color, beige. The only question is whether I paint the corners gold. My cabinet might vote," Trump continued.
The White House aggressively rebuts any questions about a potential mental health issue with Trump.
"The Guardian is a mouthpiece for the left and should be ashamed. President Trump's mental health is unmatched," said White House spokesperson Liz Huston.