Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary, said President Trump’s nearly two-hour, unfocused press conference suggested the 79-year-old leader is “mentally slipping.”
Grisham’s post on X reignited calls for consideration of the 25th Amendment. The White House did not respond; the president’s physician says Trump scored 30/30 on a standard 10-minute cognitive screening.
One of Donald Trump’s former White House press secretaries warned that his rambling, nearly two-hour news conference on Tuesday suggested the 79-year-old president may be “mentally slipping.” The comments, posted on X by Stephanie Grisham — who served nine months as White House press secretary during Trump’s first term — prompted renewed public discussion about the president’s fitness for office.
“This presser is bizarre even for him,” Grisham, 49, wrote on X. “It’s all the usual rambling, off-topic tales, half-truths, lies, ‘I’ve fixed everything - no one has ever seen anything like it’ stuff…but it’s low-energy & feels like he’s…mentally slipping. Congress-plz wake up. Plz. #EmperorHasNoClothes.”
During the conference, Trump wandered between topics for almost two hours: flipping through a picture book, criticizing other nations, undercutting his own press team, suggesting an alternate name for the Gulf of Mexico and again complaining about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Reporters noted that more than an hour passed before he took questions, and at one point he abruptly shifted from childhood baseball memories to discussing mental institutions.
The episode prompted many commentators and critics to renew calls for consideration of the 25th Amendment — a constitutional mechanism that, in extreme cases, can be used to declare a president unfit for office. Such action would require either the president’s Cabinet or Congress to move forward.
News outlets have also reported instances in recent months of Trump appearing to doze during official events, raising concerns among aides about public optics. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chief of Staff Susie Wiles urged Cabinet members to keep presentations concise to avoid awkward moments on camera.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Grisham’s remarks. Grisham has publicly supported the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.
At the same time, the president’s physician, Sean Barbabella, issued a statement last April saying Trump’s cognitive function had been evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a roughly 10-minute screening exam for signs of dementia, and that Trump scored 30 out of 30. The MoCA includes tasks such as drawing a clock, naming animals, and recalling a short list of words after a delay.
This story highlights growing public debate over presidential fitness, the role of former aides in speaking out, and how medical assessments are used in political discourse. As calls for scrutiny continue, lawmakers and the public are weighing how to respond to concerns about the president's behavior and stamina in office.
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