Vice President JD Vance is adamant that President Donald Trump’s health is not slipping—but if it does, he says he is ready to step in.
Asked by USA Today about assuming the presidency before the term ends, Vance, 41, said he has received “good on-the-job training” in the last seven months that has prepared him to take over from Trump, 79.
But the former Ohio senator, who did not hold public office before 2023, does not think that day is imminent.
“The president is in incredibly good health,” Vance insisted to USA Today. “He’s got incredible energy.”
Other observers are not so convinced. Trump critic John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during his first term, said that Trump appeared “tired” during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which he struggled to walk in a straight line.
Bruises on Trump’s hands, which he has tried to hide with makeup, as well as a series of mental lapses, which include him forgetting conflicts he claims to have ended, have raised concerns about the leader’s health.
Trump became the oldest president ever to be sworn into office on Jan. 20, when he was 78. Former President Joe Biden was also 78 on his Inauguration Day, but five months younger than Trump.
Biden made fewer and fewer public appearances in the second half of his presidency, leading to speculation about his mental and physical health. The ex-president’s struggles were brutally exposed in a primetime presidential debate last summer, where he struggled to speak coherently. Biden announced in May that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Trump has had his fair share of gaffes in front of cameras.
On Aug. 12, Trump twice said that he was traveling to Russia to meet with Putin despite the meeting taking place in Alaska. He then referred to the Russian city of St. Petersburg as “Leningrad,” a name that has been retired since 1991.
The following Monday, Trump failed to recognize Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who was seated right in front of him, after the European ally traveled to meet with him at the White House.
The White House trotted out Trump’s first-term physician, Ronny Jackson, in an attempt to dispel growing rumors about the president’s well-being. Jackson claimed the fast-food-loving Trump is “the healthiest president this nation has ever seen.”
Jackson, now a Republican congressman representing Texas, has relinquished his full medical license and has been stripped of his military rank following a series of scandals. Critics say his medical expertise can no longer be trusted.
The White House announced in July that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that occurs when leg vein valves fail, causing blood to pool. The announcement came after pictures of Trump’s severely swollen ankles went viral.
Since that diagnosis was made public, photographers have taken shots that show Trump has had severe bruising on his hands. The first images of bruising were taken in February, but it has become more frequent this summer.
Initially, the bruising was limited to his right hand, which the White House attributed to his use of aspirin and the volume of handshaking he does each day. That reasoning was scrutinized this weekend after bruising appeared on Trump’s left hand, too, which he does not regularly use for handshakes.
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