Donald Trump erupted with fury after being accused of displaying signs of “fatigue” and dramatically cutting back his workload.
The 79 year old president has fewer public engagements in his diary and travels domestically far less than he did during his inaugural year in office back in 2017, according to analysis published by The New York Times on Tuesday.
Whilst the article acknowledged that Trump is undertaking more overseas trips, it also revealed that when he does make public appearances, they’re now briefer than usual, with most occurring between noon and 5pm.
The publication suggested Trump’s “battery shows signs of wear” when he’s in the public eye, observing that the president “appeared to doze on and off” during an Oval Office meeting on November 6.
The piece went on to spotlight worries about the president’s wellbeing, alleging he “is known to eat McDonald’s by the sackful.”
Trump left raging
The report seemed to infuriate the president, who targeted the physical appearance of a female journalist who co-authored the piece, as he embarked on an extensive tirade on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
“The Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite. They know this is wrong, as is almost every thing that they write about me, including election results, ALL PURPOSELY NEGATIVE,” Trump wrote.
“The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out. Despite all of this, I have my highest Poll Numbers, ever, and with record setting investment being made in America, they should only go up,” he added, reports.
The president insisted that he’s grafting harder than ever before as he concluded: “There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”.
The examination of Trump’s official presidential timetables revealed “significant changes” from his first term.
In 2017, Trump’s scheduled engagements commenced at 10:31 am on average.
Nevertheless, in his second term, scheduled engagements occur in the afternoon on average, at 12:08 pm.
Meanwhile, Trump’s total official appearances have declined by 39%.
In 2017, he conducted 1,688 official events between January 20 and November 25 of that year, but for the same period this year he conducted 1,029 official events.
Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, the White House physician from 2000 to 2013, said that Trump’s schedule differs markedly from those maintained by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who were both substantially younger than Trump when they assumed office.
Daily exercise formed part of Bush and Obama’s daily routine.
“They show him as effective,” Dr. Kuhlman said of Trump’s aides, “but every time he’s in the Oval Office, he’s sedentary,” he added.