Late on December 9, 2025, Trump posted a 488-word message on Truth Social declaring that media reporting about his health is “seditious, perhaps even treasonous.” The post followed a November 25 New York Times report by Katie Rogers and Dylan Freedman finding that Trump had fewer public events and was traveling domestically much less than at the same point in his first term, and that he had appeared to doze off during a White House event. The Times reported separately in early December that he appeared to fall asleep again during a Cabinet meeting.
Trump wrote: “After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it's seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean 'THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.' They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it.” He said he had recently “aced” a cognitive exam and wrote, “I will know when I am 'slowing up,' but it's not now!” He added: “The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful 'source' of information.”
The New York Times responded: “Americans deserve in-depth reporting and regular updates about the health of the leaders they elect. Mr. Trump welcomed our reporting on the age and fitness of his predecessors; we're applying the same journalistic scrutiny to his vitality. Our reporting is heavily sourced, based on interviews with people close to the president and with medical experts. We won't be deterred by false and inflammatory language that distorts the role of a free press.”
Trump will be the oldest president in U.S. history if he completes his second term. He nicknamed Joe Biden “Sleepy” and amplified questions about Biden's fitness for office. After the original Times report, he called reporter Katie Rogers “ugly, both inside and out.” He used similar “treasonous” language about the Times in 2018 after it published an anonymous op-ed by an administration official. Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger answered the treason charge in a 2019 Wall Street Journal op-ed: “The Founders considered it the gravest of crimes. Tossing the charge around is irresponsible and wrong.” Trump is also suing the Times for defamation in an unrelated case.
Correction (October 14, 2026): An earlier version said one Times investigation documented Trump dozing at both a White House event and a Cabinet meeting; the Cabinet meeting was in a separate, later Times report. Two quotes were corrected to Trump's exact words: he called the Times “true Enemies of the People” and said “we should do something about it,” and he said the “best thing that could happen to this Country” would be for the Times to “cease publication.” Quotes about no president working as hard and his hours being “the longest” were cut because no remaining source carries them. The statement that treason is punishable by death, and the characterization that he “weaponized” age against Biden during the 2024 campaign, were cut or softened to what the sources support.