The D.C. Brief

WHEN DONALD TRUMP HAS SPOken of late, many Americans have been less interested in his words than his appearance. Is he wearing more makeup than usual? Any new bruises? Is he steady? It is perhaps a reasonable response after so much talk circulating this summer about whether Trump is at death's door or through it.

- Philip Elliott

After years of being told Trump is the model of health, an exemplar of youth, and a man always in his prime, some are feeling a tad skeptical about his well-being-so much so that the public is conditioned to doubt even their own eyes when it comes to Trump's existence.

After all, earlier this year the White House physician praised the President's health by boasting that he logs "frequent victories in golf events." During his first term, Trump's doctors kept him just one pound away from being classified as obese but said he was nevertheless a machine. "Some people just have great genes. I told the President if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years he might live to be 200," Dr. Ronny Jackson said in 2018, years before being elected to Congress. During the 2016 campaign, Trump's personal physician released a letter lauding his excellent health-one that Trump himself dictated, it was later reported.