# How is Trump's health and energy compared to the average 78-year old? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 10, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645 "2024-10-10T22:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/21 "2024-10-11T11:15:11Z")
I knew I’d be called out on this one. Just wanted to see the replies. 🙂 Yeah, he is a lazy fat ass, no doubt. But generally, he is the idle privalaged rich. The only exercise he gets is counting his money. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/22 "2024-10-11T11:16:11Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Not drinking or drugging in his younger days does have its benefits, I do question his statement on this, Trump tends to make himself look good regardless of what the truth is and many of his late night tweets seem like drunken rants. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/23 "2024-10-11T11:19:36Z")
I put this more towards a sign of dementia, which can appear to be similar to drunken rants. I think if he were drinking it would be hard to keep secert for so long. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/24 "2024-10-11T11:47:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Whatever you may think of the guy, he seems to be indefatigable. Not really. His [diminished campaign schedule](https://www.axios.com/2024/09/22/trump-2024-rallies-schedule) has been a source of concern among his team. I think they’ve kicked it up some since late September but, as previously mentioned, the events he does have are marked by weird angry rambling screeds. Dude seems pretty worn down. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/25 "2024-10-11T11:56:34Z")
Even as president, he had lengthy blocks of “executive time” which mainly involved watching friendly news coverage. The hard-working never-stopping ur-executive has always been his image, and his image has always been his primary source of revenue. Anybody who thinks Trump’s carefully curated public appearances are signs of good health or a robust constitution is allowing themselves to see all lipstick and no pig. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/26 "2024-10-11T12:09:42Z")
I’ve read comments from people who should know the signs that they believe his behavior and speech point to some sort of stimulating drug intake. I’m convinced that they are correct. As for being 78, which I will be next May, I would not be able to keep up his pace. I’m reasonably healthy, but standing for 90 minutes while giving a rambling speech would do me in, let alone doing as many as he does. Even the healthiest of elderly men and women in this building would be unable to do that unless they were taking stimulants of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/27 "2024-10-11T12:48:35Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The video tour was interesting, but he’s definitely not travelling in an economy seat. And it’s not just the luxury plane, it’s everything surrounding it. Trump has people to do _everything_ for him. He doesn’t carry luggage, or wait for luggage to get off the plane. His car meets him at the bottom of the plane steps, and he never drives. No standing in line waiting for a taxi. And the car takes him exactly where he needs to go, with a police escort, so no sitting stuck in traffic. And someone else schedules everything. He never has to figure out where he should be next, because someone else is there to tell him where to go. All his meals are arranged, and available exactly when he wants them, again, no standing in line for Trump. Travel is easy when everyone else is doing all the hard work. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/28 "2024-10-11T13:10:07Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Travel is easy when everyone else is doing all the hard work. I remember commenting in a completely unrelated thread a long time ago that it’s difficult to appreciate how different life is for the truly wealthy. Literally **every single thing** they do is a choice. There are no chores, no mild inconveniences, no irritating lists of minor tasks grating at your mind like a bit of sand in your socks. At some point even your “work” becomes a kind of cosplay (see Elon Musk for an example of what that looks like when it gets out of control). There’s very little Trump does in his day-to-day businessing that couldn’t be handled by subordinates. He chooses what aspects of the business he wants to take part in and does those because it makes him happy. Apparently he really likes signing checks, for example. So yeah, stress isn’t really a thing except where it’s self imposed, and I think Trump is great at not imposing much of it on himself. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/29 "2024-10-11T13:23:57Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > the events he does have are marked by weird angry rambling screeds. Yeah, that’s another aspect of it. Giving a long public speech would be challenging _for us_, because we’d be worrying about how we appear, trying to get our facts straight, and trying not to say anything that would make us look bad on the evening news. But Trump’s got pillows taped to every hard surface there. He can just get up there and ramble on about any kind of nonsense he wants, secure in the knowledge that the people he’s trying to appeal to will forgive him for any mistakes he makes. So even _the most stressful part of his day_ is a walk in the park compared to what a normal person would experience. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/30 "2024-10-11T13:35:26Z")
So when I was a teacher, our program was “open entry/open exit,” meaning I got new students regularly, at least once a week. That means I gave my “welcome to my class” talk a _lot._ It’s a weird feeling to suddenly realize that you’ve slipped out of being present and that you’re basically talking on autopilot because you’re saying the same thing you’ve said a thousand times. It’s not easy to seamlessly re-engage without needing to pause and orient your mental “what do I need to cover?” checklist. If you watch Trump’s speeches, you can see those moments where he dips in and out of being present. All politicians do it to some degree - there are a million clips of Politician X making the same joke or using the same phrase over and over. But Trump is spending a lot more time on autopilot (his speeches have doubled in length since 2016), is having more trouble realizing that he’s doing it, and us having more trouble pivoting to timely material. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/31 "2024-10-11T13:38:48Z")
Yeah. Three things come to mind for me: 1. The **[health effects](https://bigthink.com/plus/understanding-the-effect-of-human-hierarchies/)** of where you are on the hierarchy (ie, “It’s good to be King.”) 2. The concept that "a good night’s sleep requires that you either have _a clear_ conscience or _no_ conscience 3. I think about a beautiful part of San Diego (Mission Hills) that I used to pedal through very often. I used to opine that the people who lived in those homes – from the time they were first built – were _never_ ‘poor’ (so the homes showed basically zero deferred maintenance) He may also _have_ good genes, relative to immunity from many chronic illnesses and to longevity. I think we know his ancestry. How well all of that will resist the insidious influences of decades of poor _lifestyle_ choices is TBD. But he’s kind of entering the crucible of age, regardless, and the Presidency – as oft noted above, and even _in_ Trump’s case – can be quite the grind. I came to believe that Joe Biden was too old for another term. Aside from his fundamental insanity and abject sociopathy, I believe that Trump is, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/32 "2024-10-11T13:39:51Z")
I’ll also add that he was hospitalized for Covid and given emergency treatment in a [pretty severe scenario](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html). I wouldn’t place any bets about the state of his heart and lungs with the potential for lingering permanent effects. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/33 "2024-10-11T13:42:57Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Remember his lengthy court appearances? He’d constantly be dozing off. Literally couldn’t stay awake. According to a reliable source, Jesse Waters, he couldn’t help but doze off because the court was so cold and sitting still is an anathema to an active guy like Trump. > [@wolfpup](#): > > The best that can be said for Trump’s physical condition is that he doesn’t have any obvious physical disabilities, and despite being flabby and overweight due to a terrible diet and lifestyle, is probably doing better than average for his age. Some people just get lucky and they end up bucking statistical probabilities. > [@wolfpup](#): > > BTW, I’m not saying this just because I despise Trump. Irrational, unprovoked anger is often a genuine marker of serious mental decline. It’s not so easy with Trump because he’s been a petty and vindictive person his entire life. But I think his lack of self-control is evidence of mental decline. He had a difficult time controling his behavior in court and it almost certainly cost him bigly. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/34 "2024-10-11T14:40:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think by 78 there is an enormous range of health and energy levels. Yeah totally. My mom is 73 and I work with and know many people in their 70s, some in their 80s now, and the range of energy, mobility and outward health is staggering. One of my 70-something friends works 3 jobs but has heart trouble, another runs every day but is starting to show signs with Parkinson’s, and the 80-something is training people at the gym but had a few months off for bad health issues. My mom can’t walk without a walker so she stays home. I honestly can’t give you an average for all of the 70-somethings I know. If I had to it’d be like “well half are dead and half are alive so I guess the average amongst 70-somethings I know would be ‘somewhere between dead and alive.’” Trump fits that. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/35 "2024-10-11T15:03:59Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > because someone else is there to tell him where to go I applied for that job, but hell wouldn’t take him. Something about a non-competitor clause he had signed with Satan. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/36 "2024-10-11T22:33:29Z")
When I was 78, I regularly walked 4 miles to my office and would occasionally give a talk that went for an hour or an hour and a half. Nine years later, I cannot walk over a 1/2 mile and standing for 5 minutes is painful. None of which helps figuring out where Trump is. But I do know that, as president, he treated it as a part-time job. And now he rants uncontrollably. He seems energized by the rallies, but nothing else seems to hold his attention. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/37 "2024-10-12T15:20:59Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The only exercise he gets is counting his money. Aw, c’mon, you don’t think he has people to do this for him?? According to my MIL, once you hit 80, eeeeeeeeverything changes. And she should know because she was 80 once (13 years ago.) So in 2 more years (according to her pronouncement) Trump will really be in trouble, physically. Yes, this is snark. As for the question of this thread, I’d not be surprised to learn his health is marginal and his energy is chemically induced. And having watched my FIL descend into dementia, I have no doubt that Trump’s mental state is way below what one would call normal. His emotional state seems to rival my 2-y/o grandson’s when he misses his nap. I feel like so much of his public life is a facade, held up by those around him. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/38 "2024-10-14T13:50:09Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > BTW, I’m not saying this just because I despise Trump. Irrational, unprovoked anger is often a genuine marker of serious mental decline. I wonder if somewhere deep inside, he knows he’s losing ‘it’. Everything really (including freedom). Provokes his anger. No one ever told him what he had to do before. Now hat has changed. I totally recognize that I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer at work anymore. I used to be. I want other people to take over, and am working on a smooth transition to that. That will make me happy. Different people have different solutions for that. Anger is not mine. Acceptance and recognizing it is. Trump can’t do that. I think Trump has some balance problems. And eyesight to, which will effect balance. That’s all a part of aging. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/39 "2024-10-20T22:39:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > At some point even your “work” becomes a kind of cosplay (see Elon Musk for an example of what that looks like when it gets out of control). And now, he’s _literally_ done cosplay as a ‘worker’. > **[Trump attempts to troll Harris by serving french fries at a Pennsylvania...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tries-troll-harris-serving-french-fries-mcdonalds-rcna176294)** > > Trump worked the fry machine and drive-thru as he continued to cast doubt, without evidence, on Harris' summer job years ago at one of the fast-food chain's restaurants. This whole thing was staged, of course. The restaurant was closed to the public, and the people getting “drive through” were carefully selected MAGAs. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645/40 "2024-10-20T23:23:55Z")
> "Oh, you’re very stingy with the product,” he said to an employee filling bags with fries. “Look at that. She’s a good worker. That’s the kind of people you want to have. She gave them one french fry for 30 reporters.” That son of a bitch mansplained to someone how to do her job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trumps-health-and-energy-compared-to-the-average-78-year-old/1008645.md?page=3)