President Donald Trump faces renewed scrutiny over his age and fitness for office after he publicly acknowledged the physical demands of his hectic campaign schedule.
A new investigation also claims his public remarks are becoming more repetitive and confrontational, and activists and researchers say the president’s claims are harder to follow.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Salute to America Celebration, Thursday, July 3, 2025, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald J. Trump attends a Rose Garden Lunch for first responders Thursday, October 15, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
On Sunday, November 1, The New York Times — an outlet historically hostile to the president — published a report examining how President Trump’s speaking style has changed over the last ten years.
The report also comes only days after the president admitted that almost a month of constant campaigning has left him exhausted, with his voice struggling to keep up.
But while Trump, who turned 80 in June, is attracting scrutiny, the facts show that he is substantially more accessible to the press than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, and far more active, too.
Trump continues to participate in lengthy rallies; he still engages in completely unscripted exchanges with the media, and he is inarguably among the most publicly accessible modern presidents.
Trump Says the Campaign Is Taking Its Toll
President Trump admitted that the midterm election campaign was taking its toll during a rally speech in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 30.
The president made the comments after his team canceled his plans to make appearances in Kansas and Iowa.
“I thought this was it. I thought I could relax,” Trump quipped. “28 days in a row of this…is a lot. It’s a lot.”
“My voice is operating at about 49.2%,” he continued.
The comments came after the president’s team canceled two in-person rallies, with plans for the president to participate instead in telephone events supporting Republican candidates across the country.
The Washington Post reported that one adviser claimed the president was tired and needed a day off.
But Trump subsequently rescheduled both of the appearances and agreed to back-to-back rallies in Dubuque, Iowa, and Salina, Kansas, for November 1.
Donald Trump Has the Best One-Word Answer
In a video clip that has since gone viral, President Trump clashed with a Reuters journalist who asked him if he canceled his appearances because he was tired of traveling.
Trump rejected the suggestion, said that he felt “perfect,” and then attacked the reporter for his physical appearance.
Trump told other reporters present that he decided because he believed the Republican candidate was doing well enough that the rally wasn’t necessary.
President Trump participated in 25 rallies in October.
What About Trump’s Speaking Style?
On November 1, a New York Times report concluded that President Trump’s average rally speech now lasts around 85 minutes, compared with 42 minutes during his 2016 campaign.
After analyzing speeches and interviews, the report identified more frequent profanity and repetitive language, as well as lengthy digressions from the script.
The report argued that the president may be struggling to stay on topic, and that the changes may be a result of his age.
Others may argue that it is a sign of a president becoming more confident in his ability to speak at length on a variety of topics without relying on a teleprompter.
Nonetheless, the findings have prompted public criticism about his communication style.
The White House has since rejected suggestions that the president’s mental abilities are declining, with his physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, reporting that the president achieved a perfect score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
Trump Outperforms Biden
While Trump is obviously aging, it’s clear that despite his age, he remains a far more active and accessible president than his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and other modern presidents.
According to research by presidential scholar Martha Joynt Kumar, President Trump participated in 493 press interactions during the first year of his second term.
President Biden, meanwhile, participated in just 266.
President Joe Biden speaks at the NAACP Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
Trump also conducted 153 interviews during the same period, compared to only 22 for President Biden.
A Roll Call report also found that Trump answered 629 questions from the media during his first two weeks of his second term, compared with 75 answered by Biden during the same period in 2021.
Trump also spent more than nine and a half hours speaking publicly during the same period. Biden spoke publicly for less than three hours.
Those figures really mean something: while Biden’s limited press availability was a source of criticism throughout his presidency, nobody can honestly claim that President Trump is afraid of answering questions.
Trump routinely answers questions without prepared remarks and, regardless of whether some outlets believe he rambles more during those speeches, he has no problem speaking for extended periods.
Is Trump getting older? Yes.
Is his speaking style changing? Perhaps.
Is it a sign of mental decline? Clearly, no.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, and he produces and edits analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
