US President Donald Trump closes his eyes briefly while listening to Cabinet members speak during a meeting at the White House Cabinet Room in Washington on May 28. [Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump closes his eyes briefly while listening to Cabinet members speak during a meeting at the White House Cabinet Room in Washington on May 28. [Getty Images]

People over 80 should not be leading a country.

밋 롬니 미국 전 연방 상원의원

As Donald Trump turns 80 this year, debate over age-related cognitive decline is growing around the sitting US president. Trump spent the 2024 presidential election mocking former President Joe Biden as "Sleepy Joe" and attacking him over his age — yet Trump himself has repeatedly made similar verbal gaffes in public, drawing mounting criticism.

If Trump completes his current term, he will be 82, making him the oldest person ever to serve as US president.

Biden once called Zelensky 'President Putin' — two years later, Trump asked reporters if they had questions 'for President Putin' while facing Zelensky

US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden attend the presidential inauguration ceremony at the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington in January last year. [Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden attend the presidential inauguration ceremony at the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington in January last year. [Getty Images]

Trump's recent conduct has drawn comparisons to the cognitive-decline controversy that dogged former President Biden.

During bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, Trump turned to reporters and asked, "Do you have a question for President Putin?" The remark prompted immediate speculation that Trump had confused Zelensky's name with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump later said the comment was intentional, explaining that he had a phone call with Putin scheduled.

The slip echoed an incident two years earlier at a NATO summit in Washington, where Biden introduced Zelensky to the audience as "ladies and gentlemen, President Putin." Biden quickly caught himself and corrected the error, saying, "I'm so focused on beating Putin that I have to worry about that."

Trump mocked Biden as 'Sleepy Joe' — then nodded off at his own public events

US President Donald Trump dozes off while leaning back in his chair. [Social media]
US President Donald Trump dozes off while leaning back in his chair. [Social media]
Trump nodding off. [Social media]
Trump nodding off. [Social media]

Trump, who once ridiculed Biden as "Sleepy Joe" for dozing off at public events, has himself been caught nodding off at official functions.

At a White House Oval Office event last November announcing lower prices for obesity drugs, Trump's eyes began slowly closing shortly after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started speaking.