Trump’s Age Problem Is Hiding in Plain Sight

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Trump’s Age Problem Is Hiding in Plain Sight"

The Bulwark – May 20, 2026
Host: Sam Stein
Guest: Lauren Egan

---

Episode Overview

This episode features Sam Stein, managing editor at The Bulwark, chatting with Lauren Egan about her recent newsletter examining Donald Trump's age, visible health issues, and why Democrats have been largely silent on the topic. The discussion explores the double standard in how presidential health is covered, strategic political choices by Democrats, and the broader national context influencing which narratives "pop off" during campaign season.

---

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Age and Health Concerns in the Spotlight

• Visible Signs of Aging:
  • Trump turns 80 next month.
  • Observers have noted "weird bruising on his hands," frequent dental visits, and an MRI last year (reason undisclosed).

    “He has some weird bruising on his hands, which we've covered here at the Bulwark. And not only that, he has fallen asleep in the Oval, or appeared to fall asleep in the Oval, I should say.” – Lauren Egan [00:21]

• Limited Transparency:
  • Trump has not been forthcoming about his medical history or current health status.
  • This aligns with a long-standing tradition of presidents avoiding health disclosure.

2. Why Aren’t Democrats Making This an Issue?

• Democratic Reluctance:
  • Lauren’s newsletter probes why Democrats, unlike Republicans with Biden, are not amplifying Trump’s apparent vulnerabilities.
  • Stein draws a contrast with the aggressive, viral campaigns against Biden’s fitness during his presidency.

Main Reasons Identified:

• The ‘Biden Hangover’
  • Having defended Biden against similar attacks, Democrats feel focusing on Trump’s health now would be hypocritical.

    “There was a sense that it would just be hypocritical to turn around, you know, just a couple years later and start criticizing Trump for some of these same things. So there's a real discomfort. It's like the Biden hangover.” – Lauren Egan [03:42]

• The Gerontocracy Problem
  • The Democratic Party is itself led by many older figures; targeting Trump’s age would highlight their own vulnerabilities.

    “Their party is also pretty old. This has been a whole theme of this past year about, you know, the gerontocracy and trying to get younger candidates in there this cycle.” – Lauren Egan [04:21]

3. The Viral Politics of Campaign Attacks

• Messaging Power Differences:
  • The RNC and conservatively-aligned groups were much more effective at distributing clips and driving press coverage of Biden’s gaffes or age-related slip-ups.

    “The RNC would clip something that Biden would do... it would go viral, and basically the national press corps... would force these kinds of stories.” – Lauren Egan [05:33]

  • Meanwhile, the DNC’s attempts to make similar attacks on Trump haven’t gained similar traction, especially among national reporters and on social media.
• Presence vs. Perception:
  • Trump’s energetic persona and engagement with press overshadow questions about his coherence or fitness.

    “He does fill up a room because that's who he is, but that's not the same as being with it.” – Sam Stein [02:49]

4. Strategic Calculations for 2026

• Focus on Policy, Not Personality:
  • Stein wonders whether Democrats simply want to move on, not refight the last election’s battles on age and health.

    “Maybe they just don't want to fight the last fight. Right. Like, it's, you know, it's like, okay, yeah, that was two years ago, but right now, what we really care about is cost of living.” – Sam Stein [06:06]

  • Affordability and economic concerns are seen as more effective campaign topics in the current cycle.

---

Notable Quotes and Moments

• Laughs and Banter about Hand Bruises:

  • “[Trump] has some weird bruising on his hands… we found Jared… Jared shook 300 hands… and he said it was tough on his hands. I will say this—one hand, maybe a lot of bruising, two hands, you’re not shaking people’s hands like this.” – Sam Stein [02:25]

• On Political Reluctance:

  • “If the goal here is to make Trump look as weak as possible going into midterms… painting him to be kind of frail and decaying might be a route you might take, but they're not really doing that.” – Lauren Egan [01:17]

• On Media Influence:

  • “They [the RNC] would selectively edit some of their stuff to make Biden look a little more aimless… It would force these kinds of stories into the mix, and people covered it in a very different way than I think tends to happen right now.” – Lauren Egan [05:33]

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:21 – Lauren details Trump’s visible signs of aging and lack of health transparency.
• 01:39 – Why Democrats aren’t capitalizing on Trump’s health: hypocrisy and gerontocracy.
• 02:49 – The contrast between Trump and Biden’s public presence.
• 03:42 – The “Biden hangover” and party age issues.
• 05:33 – How the RNC’s viral strategy shaped coverage of Biden; DNC attempts and media dynamics.
• 06:06 – Why Democrats may be avoiding the health narrative—shifting focus to affordability and economic issues.

---

Takeaway

The episode spotlights a curious silence among Democrats regarding Trump’s age and health, analyzing whether it is strategic, cultural, or just political calculation. They discuss the legacy of “Biden’s age” as a weapon, the challenges of internal party dynamics, and why, despite ample fodder, Trump’s own vulnerabilities remain largely unexploited by the opposition. The strategic takeaway: Democrats may see more gain in pivoting to kitchen table issues rather than wading back into age and fitness battles.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, everyone, it's me, Sam Stein, managing here at the Book. I'm here with Lauren Egan, and we're here to talk about her new newsletter about Democrats Trump's health and why are they not doing more with it. Lauren, thanks for joining. Appreciate it. Why are you smiling?

[B]

No reason.

[A]

Okay, good. So tell us a bit about what the newsletter says. Are you smiling, Lauren?

[B]

My newsletter is about. We. Look, we have all seen the signs of Donald Trump growing older. He turns 80 next month. He has some weird bruising on his hands, which we've covered here at the Bulwark. And not only that, he has fallen asleep in the Oval, or appeared to fall asleep in the Oval, I should say.

[A]

That was like an extended blink, I thought.

[B]

Yes, it's, you know, it's in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

There are a few other things. He's been to the dentist three times so far this year. He had an MRI last year, but didn't really tell us why. It's. He's not transparent about his health, which is obviously not exactly like a new thing for presidents, but after Biden, there's, you know, it's. We have all these questions now, and he is. He's old. But I was interested that Democrats really weren't talking about this a bunch. You know, if the goal here is to make Trump look as weak as possible going into midterms, trying to hit him for some of these things, as, you know, painting him to be kind of frail and decaying might be a route you might take, but they're not really doing that. So my newsletter explores. Oh, what was that?

[A]

Nothing. Go ahead. What does your newsletter explore?

[B]

Why Democrats aren't talking about it.

[A]

Maybe one is because it's not terribly abnormal to pancake your hands. That seems like a type of thing anyone would do. And what's going on there? One hand. One hand might have the issue, but the other hand can have an issue too.

[B]

Okay. It looks like you took white out and just put it on your hands.

[A]

I didn't get it all.

[B]

Oh, you gotta. You got a blender, too.

[A]

Well, sometimes you gotta cover it up, and that's what you do. This is normal. This is normal behavior. And you can definitely have hands like this.

[B]

So you also have extensive bruising on

[A]

your hands when you shake a lot of hands, like I do during the course of the day? Sometimes, yeah. This is what happens.

[B]

Did it find someone to go shake a bunch of hands?

[A]

We did. We found Jared.

[B]

Yeah. And what happened? And bruising. No bruising.

[A]

Jared shook 300 hands in the course of several hours. And he said it was tough on his hands. I will say this one hand, maybe a lot of bruising, two hands. You're not shaking people's hands like this.

[B]

Yeah, I have. There's a lot of questions.

[A]

Yeah, there are some questions. And on a more serious note, it's curious why they're not doing this. Like, if you could take me seriously with this, because what we just lived through two years ago was an extensive, very aggressive and frankly, you know, substance supported campaign against Joe Biden for being old and frail and not being on top of his game. There's plenty of fodder to go after Trump. Now, of course, he's more public than Biden was and we have to do all this. He's definitely more engaged than Biden was. He's definitely talking to the press more than Biden was. And he's got this kind of presence about him. I think Jonathan Merrill, colleague, wrote about this today where it's like he does fill up a room because that's who he is, but that's not the same as being with it. And yet Democrats seem to be, I don't know, a little bit reluctant to do so. So why when you talk to them, there's two reasons.

[B]

The first is because of Biden. I mean, that wasn't all that obviously, and there's a sense that if they were so many of them didn't say anything when Biden, the whole country was watching Biden very visibly decline. He was not the same person he was in 2022 as he was when he first came in at the beginning of 2021. And there was a sense that it would just be hypocritical to turn around, you know, just a couple years later and start criticizing Trump for some of these same things. So there's a real discomfort. It's like the Biden hangover.

[A]

I mean, you know, that's very typical. It's like, oh, we can't this, we're too be too inconsistent.

[B]

Well, I think that that's right. It's, it's very. Not to get into the psyche of Democrats, but sure. Like, that's, that's how they think about these things. And then the second part is that their party is also pretty old. This has been a whole theme of this past year about, you know, the gerontocracy and trying to get younger candidates in there this cycle. And there's been some change in that. But, you know, like Chuck Schumer is only a couple of Years younger.

[A]

Yeah, but Trump was, like, one year or two years younger than Biden. He made a big old deal about. He still does to this day. Like, literally yesterday, he's like, I signed a bill. Biden couldn't do that.

[B]

Right. But I think that goes to, like, the presence that Trump has. I mean, if Chuck Schumer were to turn around and do that, like, would you really start to buy that? I mean, the man, like, yeah, exactly. Like, there just isn't the equivalent of that in the Democratic Party party right now.

[A]

Sure. Well, I will say there's some people who are doing it, so the dnc.

[B]

But they're younger. They're for sure younger. The people that are doing it. And the dnc. The DNC is like, being, you know, kind of spicy in their Twitter account and in their TikTok account. I think the problem for them is that their stuff just doesn't pop off in the way that it did with the RNC back in the Biden administration.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I mean, I remember covering the White House, the Biden White House. The RNC would clip something that Biden would do, and they for sure would clip it in a very RNC research. Yes. They would selectively edit some of their stuff to make Biden look a little more aimless than maybe he actually did when you were in person with him. But point being, they would clip something, it would go viral, and basically the national press corps, people covering the White House would. It would force these kinds of stories, you know, into the mix, and people covered it in a very different way than I think tends to happen right now.

[A]

I'm wondering if there's something like, I'm not trying to excuse it, but, you know, maybe they just don't want to fight the last fight. Right. Like, it's, you know, it's like, okay, yeah, that was two years ago, but right now, what we really care about is cost of living. Yeah, well, I guess that was two years ago, too.

[B]

I mean, I think that's right. And I think with any of these things, you talk to people and they fundamentally just think that the only thing that's really going to matter this election cycle is affordability. And.