President Donald Trump fumed at The New York Times on Wednesday, blasting the paper as “creeps” over a story claiming he has shown signs of fatigue while aging in office.
Trump objected to a report co-authored by White House correspondent Katie Rogers headlined, “Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office,” that suggested the 79-year-old is slowing down.
The Times reported that it analyzed Trump’s schedule and found “fewer public events” than he had during his first term and suggested that he typically appears between noon and 5 p.m. The report also said Trump seemed to doze off during a recent Oval Office event.
Trump often mocks predecessor Joe Biden’s stamina, and Biden’s mental and cognitive decline in office ultimately led to him being forced out of the White House race in 2024. Trump broke Biden’s record as the oldest elected president ever with his 2024 win at the age of 78; Biden was 77 when he won the 2020 race.
Trump ripped the paper for the “hit piece,” touting his 2024 victory and saying he had settled “8 wars” while making the country respected again around the world.
“The Creeps at the Failing New York Times are at it again,” he wrote. “I won the 2024 Presidential Election in a Landslide, winning all Seven Swing States, the Popular Vote, and the Electoral College by a lot. I one [sic] our Nation’s Districts by 2750 to 550, a complete wipeout. I settled 8 Wars, have 48 New Stock Market Highs, our Economy is Great, and our Country is RESPECTED AGAIN all over the World, respected like never before… To do this requires a lot of Work and Energy, and I have never worked so hard in my life. Yet despite all of this the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He also said Rogers was “ugly, both inside and out.”
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Trump acknowledged, “There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (‘That was aced’) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”
The Times defended the report and said Trump’s “name-calling” didn’t change anything.
“The Times’ reporting is accurate and built on first-hand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this. Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders,” a Times spokesperson wrote.
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This week, Vice President JD Vance and other prominent conservatives blasted the Times over a lengthy report, “Two Men. One Identity. They Both Paid the Price,” on the plight of a Minnesota man, Daniel Kluver, whose identity was stolen by an illegal immigrant.
Vance was among the critics who said the framing sympathized with a criminal. The Times defended the report and said it helped “readers better understand the complexities of immigration in America today and the government’s difficulty in dealing with the increasingly common problem of identity theft.”
