US president Donald Trump failed to recall that his late father had Alzheimer’s disease in a new interview conducted about his health and ageing.
The rumour mill has been spiralling on 79-year-old Trump’s general well-being for some time, with comments being made online regarding his constantly bruised hand, his swollen ankles, and the fact he often leans forward in photographs.
Last year, the former businessman came clean about believing a dementia screening was a ‘very hard’ IQ test, and now, he’s speaking out about cognitive decline once again.
There is history of Alzheimer’s disease in the Trump family, with his late father, Frederick ‘Fred’ Trump, suffering from the neurological disorder in the final years of his life.
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In a chat with New York Magazine, the 47th US president touched on his dad’s decline whilst threatening the outlet with legal action if they decided to ‘write a bad story’ about his own health.
“I hate to waste a lot of time on this, but if you’re going to write a bad story about my health, I’m going to sue the ass off of New York magazine," he said.
"There will be a time when you can write that story, maybe in two years, three years, five years — five years, no one is going to care, I guess. Go ahead and sit down.”
The conversation soon turned to Fred, who died in June 1999.
In the interview, Trump explained that his dad developed Alzheimer’s when he was around 86 to 87. However, he wasn’t able to remember what exactly caused his parent’s gradual decline.
“He had one problem, at a certain age, about 86, 87, he started getting, what do they call it?”
The publication wrote that at this moment, the father-of-five turned to press secretary Karoline Leavitt, asking for a prompt of what his father had, to which she confirmed: "Alzheimer’s."
Trump went on to call it a ‘Alzheimer’s thing’ before confirming that he ‘doesn’t have it’ himself.
“I don’t think about it at all. You know why? Because whatever it is, my attitude is whatever."
“Genetically, I’m in great shape," he added. "My mother and her family lived very long, well into their 90s. No heart disease in my family. No this, no that.”
He went on to say that you ‘can’t beat genetics’ before defending his public use of blood thinning medication.
In January, the Republican said he took a higher daily dose of aspirin that advised because he didn’t ‘want thick blood pouring through [his] heart.
He takes 325mg of aspirin per day, rather than the 81mg dose sometimes recommended by doctors, according to the BBC.
The Mayo Clinic stated that low-dose aspirin does help to lower the risk of heart attack and stoke, but warns that the risk of bleeding from aspirin also goes up with age.
Despite knowing that he takes more aspirin than the daily recommended amount, Trump claims he didn’t want to switch up his routine after so many years.
"I'm a little superstitious," he said.
Topics: Donald Trump, Health, Politics, US News, Celebrity
Ella Scott