Two clinical psychologists have warned that President Donald Trump is experiencing a steady decline in both his mental and physical health. This observation has raised new concerns about his ability to carry out his role.
Dr. John Gartner and Dr. Harry Segal, who have long criticized Trump’s fitness for office, claim the president is “deteriorating every day” and believe his cognitive abilities are showing visible signs of slippage.
Trump’s health has been under intense scrutiny in recent months. Images surfaced showing dark bruises on his hands along with noticeable swelling in his ankles. In July, the White House attempted to quiet speculation by announcing that the president was suffering from a common chronic vein condition.
However, the official statement did little to calm fears. Instead, rumors escalated further last week after Trump disappeared from public view for several days, with some social media chatter even falsely claiming that he had died.
Amid this atmosphere of uncertainty, Dr. Gartner and Dr. Segal analyzed Trump’s behavior during a recent episode of their program Shrinking Trump. They suggested that the President may be facing what they described as an “onslaught of Dementia.”
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Dr. Segal stated during the show, “On this week’s show, we take a closer look at the ways in which Donald Trump’s cognitive functioning appears to be slipping even more.” He emphasized that dementia does not stabilize over time, adding, “And as we’ve said often in this program, the onset of dementia doesn’t stop, it just continues.”
Dr. Gartner agreed with this assessment, explaining that Trump is unlikely to improve. “I always say to people, look at Donald Trump right now because that’s the best Donald Trump you’re ever going to see because all he does is deteriorate,” he said.
“We’re seeing that mentally. We’re seeing it in terms of his physical gate and now we’re seeing it in terms of his physical health.” He linked the president’s apparent decline to greater instability in the nation itself, remarking, “Our country seems to be having a breakdown and Trump seems to be breaking down and they seem to be happening simultaneously.”
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Segal argued that Trump’s condition does not require professional expertise to notice. In his words, “It doesn’t require clinical training to talk about what’s obvious. And I think, you know, we saw it during the campaign. Now it’s just—there’s no holds barred. He just says whatever he says. It just keeps getting worse.”
To support their concerns, the psychologists highlighted a recent incident where Trump appeared confused during an Oval Office event. Speaking about the use of the National Guard, Trump mistakenly referred to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as “Kristi Whitmer.”
His response then went into unrelated territory: “Everybody standing there knows, we know, you don’t have to be doing any studies. They should be saying please come in. Pritzker should be saying that. I did a favor for Kristi—for Kristi Whitmen, Whitmer. A good favor I think, with the fish, the carp, the China carp.”
He then continued, “Did you ever hear of it, China carp? And it’s taken over your Great Lakes, you know about that right?”
.@realDonaldTrump is a liar. But in his cognitive decline, he sometimes doesn’t know he’s lying. Psychologist and former Asst. Professor at Johns Hopkins, Dr. John Gartner @Duty2Warn calls it confabulation. A sure sign of dementia.https://t.co/WAJMUYnXnIhttps://t.co/78EVtumT2W pic.twitter.com/mvEvWv0OD9
— Bill Press (@BillPressPod) September 9, 2025
Dr. Gartner said the remarks showed incoherent thinking. “It’s all very confused,” he noted. “He doesn’t even explain what the favor is. He just starts meandering about the Chinese carp.”
Despite these criticisms, the White House insists there is no cause for alarm. After Trump’s annual physical in April, the official physician to the president released a statement declaring that Trump “exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”
That conclusion, however, has done little to stop speculation, as public appearances and unusual comments continue to fuel the debate over the president’s true health condition.
