2017 The "
Duty to Warn" movement was founded by medical professionals concerned about Trump's cognitive health in his first year in office. In 2016 and 2017, a number of psychiatrists and
clinical psychologists faced criticism for violating the
Goldwater rule; despite having never examined him, they maintained that Donald Trump displayed "an assortment of
personality problems, including
grandiosity, a lack of
empathy, and '
malignant narcissism'", and that he had a "dangerous mental illness". In 2017, psychologist
John Gartner collected more than 41,000 signatures of mental health professionals on a petition, directed to then-Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer. The petition asserted that Trump suffered from a serious mental illness and was "psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties" of the presidency. Gartner asserted that Trump's mental handicaps are a mix of
narcissism,
paranoia,
sociopathy, and
sadism. According to the American Psychiatric Association, "saying that a person does not have an illness is also a professional opinion." On April 14, 2017, Representatives
Jamie Raskin and
Earl Blumenauer introduced the
Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act. The bill, if passed, would have allowed Congress, by a
concurrent resolution, to require an 11-member commission to conduct an examination of the president and report the findings. In April 2017,
forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee hosted a meeting at Yale University medical school regarding the ethics of discussing Trump's mental health. In October 2017, Lee published
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, containing essays from 27 psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals on the "clear and present danger" that Trump's mental health poses to the "nation and individual well being". They argued that the president's issues affected the mental health of the United States population, and that he placed the country at grave risk of war because of his pathological traits. Lee and others contended that Trump's presidency represented an emergency allowing, or even requiring, psychiatrists to make an exception to the APA's
Goldwater rule, which holds that it is unethical for members of the APA to give professional opinions about public figures without having examined them in person and without having obtained their
consent. Proponents of such an exception have asserted that there is
precedent in allowing psychiatrists to speak out when someone presents a
clear and present danger. and mentally ill. In September 2017, Jeanne Suk Gerson wrote in
The New Yorker: "A strange consensus does appear to be forming around Trump's mental state", including Democrats and Republicans who doubt Trump's fitness for office. In September 2017, psychiatrist
Jeffrey Lieberman published an article commenting on Donald Trump's mental health. He said that, in accordance with the
Goldwater rule, no diagnosis should be made of public figures, but also stated that assessing the president's fitness for government should not be left to politicians alone. He arrived at a diagnosis of "
incipient dementia", but faced no sanctions from the APA.
2018 In 2018, Trump dismissed then-prevalent questions regarding his mental health, stating that he is a "very stable genius". Trump has also disputed claims he couldn't remember the name of a fallen soldier while talking to the widow, stating he has "one of the great memories of all time". In January 2018, Trump was examined by White House physician
Ronny Jackson, who stated that he was in excellent health, although his weight and cholesterol level were higher than recommended, and that his cardiac assessment revealed no medical issues. Several independent cardiologists commented that Trump's weight, lifestyle, and
LDL cholesterol ought to have raised serious concerns about his cardiac health. Trump's 2018
coronary CT calcium scan score indicates he has a form of heart disease called
coronary artery disease, which is common for white males at his age. In January 2018, after North Korea's leader
Kim Jong Un and Trump publicly exchanged claims about their respective "nuclear buttons",
Richard Painter, a former adviser to President
George W. Bush, deemed Trump "psychologically unfit" and supported transferring his powers to Vice President
Mike Pence under the
25th Amendment. In April 2018,
Vanity Fair reported that Trump's advisers "worry about his mental health" when he is outside the controls available in the White House environment. In response to speculation about his cognitive abilities, Trump voluntarily took the
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as part of his January 2018 health checkup. He reported receiving a score of 30/30, indicating a normal level of cognitive function, although the results have not been released. Trump used the phrase "
person, woman, man, camera, TV" several times during a July 2020
Fox News interview with
Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at
New York University, while describing part of the 2018 MoCA test and praising his own performance on it. Trump has not publicly revealed the results of any subsequent cognitive tests but, as late as 2024, continued to praise his performance in the 2018 cognitive test. In 2019, amid continued speculation, the
American Psychiatric Association and
Alzheimer's Society requested that professionals other than Trump's doctors adhere to the Goldwater rule and refrain from giving armchair diagnoses of Trump. A growing number of individuals in academia have continued to call for a relaxation of the Goldwater rule. In a July 4, 2019, speech, Trump said that during the
American Revolutionary War, the
Continental Army "took over the airports" from the British (airplanes were not invented until 1903, 120 years after the war ended).
2020 Clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump, who is Trump's niece, published a book in 2020 identifying the disorders she believed him to have. Trump appeared unsteady while walking down a ramp at the
United States Air Force Academy on June 15, 2020. He also had difficulty raising a glass of water to his mouth. These episodes raised questions about his health. for COVID-19 treatment on October 2, 2020.|alt=Donald Trump, wearing a black face mask, boards Marine One, a large green helicopter, from the White House lawn On September 26, 2020, an event was held in the
White House Rose Garden announcing
Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court following the
death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. According to a 2021 book by Trump's
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, hours after the ceremony, Trump tested positive for
COVID-19, although a subsequent test returned negative. Meadows recalled that Trump looked "a little tired" and was suspected of having a "slight cold". Trump later traveled in Air Force One to a rally at the
Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, which was attended by thousands. After Trump's diagnosis was made public, Pennsylvania health officials advised attendees to participate in the state's
contact tracing program. After returning from Bedminster, Trump received a positive test result on a rapid test and was waiting to get results of a
PCR test when he did a live phone interview on
Hannity. On October 2, 2020, Trump tweeted that he and his wife
Melania Trump had both tested positive for
COVID-19, Later that day,
Trump was hospitalized at
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, reportedly due to fever and labored breathing. He was treated with antivirals, an experimental antibody drug (
REGN-COV2), and a steroid. He returned to the White House on October 5, still infectious and unwell. In 2021, it was revealed that his condition had been far more serious than he had previously indicated; he had dangerously low blood oxygen levels, a high fever, and lung infiltrates, indicating a severe case of COVID-19. ==Between presidencies and 2024 presidential campaign (2021–2024)==