A key European ally of Donald Trump said he was “traumatized” by a meeting where the U.S. president’s “psychological state” came across as “dangerous,” according to diplomats with knowledge of the conversation who spoke to Politico.
Robert Fico, the populist prime minister of Slovakia, made the remarks on the sidelines of an emergency EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 22, according to five European diplomats briefed on the conversation. The conversation that so worried the Slovak took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida just days earlier, two of the anonymous diplomats said.
Fico, a frequent trumpeter of the president’s bullish approach to international relations and hawkish stance on war, came out of the sit-down worried about the 79-year-old’s “psychological state.”
The diplomats, from four EU governments and including a senior EU official, said they didn’t know what Trump said to elicit such a reaction from Fico. The White House rubbished the claims as “fake news” cooked up by “anonymous European diplomats who are trying to be relevant.”
“The meeting at Mar-a-Lago was positive and productive,” spokesperson Anna Kelly added. A senior administration official who was in the meeting and spoke to Politico shared this view.
Fico, however, characterized Trump as being “out of his mind,” according to a diplomat whose boss was directly involved in the conversation.
A sixth diplomat, speaking generally, said that European leadership is growing increasingly concerned by Trump’s “unpredictability.”
Indeed, Trump has tested already-strained relationships with European counterparts by, at times, appearing to embrace Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his brutal assault on Ukraine and, more recently, with his demands for Denmark, a NATO ally, to hand over Greenland to the United States..
In a speech in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Trump demanded “immediate negotiations” to obtain the semi-autonomous Arctic island that he says is essential for national security. Thankfully, though, he ruled out using the military, which he had publicly flirted with doing. “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable. But I won’t do that, OK?” Trump said.
The concerns come at a time when questions about Trump’s mental acuity pile up. The president, who turns 80 in June, has made a habit of appearing to doze off at public engagements and his speeches—when not guided by autocue—are more disconnected, rambling and vicious than ever.
Several experts have pointed this out, as have conservative publications that appear to be struggling to ignore the obvious. Trump has routinely dismissed concerns about his mental sharpness, boasting that he has “aced” three cognitive tests.
However, he has never explained why he needs to take so many exams of this nature.
Trump, whose father died of Alzheimer’s in 1999, was being interviewed by New York magazine about concerns surrounding his health when he brought up his father’s struggles.
“He had one problem. At a certain age, about 86, 87, he started getting—what do they call it?” Trump said during the interview in the Oval Office, pointing to his forehead and looking toward White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for help recalling the word.
“Alzheimer’s,” Leavitt interjected, before the president quickly assured the interviewer, “Well, I don’t have it.”
The White House and representatives for Fico have been contacted for comment.
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