Trump’s Rapid Health Decline on Display as he Struggles on Trip

Summary

Podcast Summary: The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode Title: Trump’s Rapid Health Decline on Display as he Struggles on Trip
Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: The Meiselas Brothers – Ben, Brett, and Jordy
Theme:
This episode focuses on Donald Trump’s latest public appearances, behavior, and statements, which the Meiselas brothers argue point to a concerning decline in his physical and cognitive health. They analyze several clips from Trump’s recent trip, discuss reactions from political figures, and highlight the broader implications for American democracy.

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Main Discussion Points

1. Trump’s Alleged Cognitive and Physical Decline

• The episode opens with a pointed analysis of Donald Trump’s recent behaviors, referencing comments by California Governor Gavin Newsom (01:31).
• The host speculates on the reasons behind Trump’s advanced imaging at Walter Reed Hospital, mentioning possible vascular or cognitive issues, including mini strokes (01:31).
• Key Incident #1: Trump fails to recognize Dasha Burns, a well-known Politico reporter who frequently interacts with him (02:20-04:00):
  • Trump repeatedly asks, “Who are you?” to a visibly confused Burns.
  • Quote:
    “Who are you with?” – Donald Trump (03:59)
    “Dasha, Politico. Politico has gone bad… Politico is fake news.” – Donald Trump (04:02)
• The brothers play and analyze clips evidencing Trump’s confusion, lack of recognition, and dismissive attitude toward reporters he knows.

2. Bizarre Public Behavior and Statements

• Key Incident #2: Trump struggles with a basic task—closing an umbrella while boarding Air Force One. The hosts point out this is a recurring issue that adds to observable red flags regarding his physical fitness and situational awareness (04:39-04:56).
• Trump makes factual errors in public statements, like claiming one can “walk from Qatar to Iran in one second,” with the hosts pulling up a map to debunk this misinformation (05:42-06:16).
  • Quote:
    “Then literally you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second…” – Donald Trump (06:08)
• They note that Gov. Newsom highlighted Trump’s outburst blaming the “BIDEN FBI” for January 6th when Trump himself was president, suggesting growing confusion and detachment from reality (06:16).

3. Trump’s Preoccupation with Mortality and Afterlife

• Trump talks openly about whether he’ll get into heaven, referencing his efforts to end wars as potential qualifiers (07:17-07:33).
  • Quote:
    “I don’t think there’s anything gonna get me in heaven… I think I’m not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly on Air Force One.” – Donald Trump (07:33)
• The hosts frame this as another “strange and concerning” topic for a former president to discuss publicly.

4. Out-of-Touch Statements Amid National Hardship

• The show contrasts Trump’s leisure activities—playing golf with his granddaughter at taxpayer expense—with the serious economic hardships facing Americans: government shutdown, rising jobless claims, soaring credit card delinquencies, housing and manufacturing recessions (09:55-10:19).
  • Quote:
    “Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Your taxes are coming down. See, everyone’s happy.” – Donald Trump (10:08)

5. Eccentric Social Media Activity

• Trump is described as posting erratic and “squiggly” images, odd memes of Democratic leaders, and obsessing publicly about building a ‘Triumphant Arch’ in Washington, D.C. amidst healthcare crises for 20 million Americans (10:24).
• The hosts voice frustration about the disconnect between his social media antics and the actual struggles faced by ordinary citizens.

6. The $18 Trillion Lie and Fact Checks

• CNN and the hosts address Trump’s repeated falsehoods about bringing in “$17-18 trillion” to the country (12:00-13:31).
• The numbers Trump cites from various countries are mathematically impossible given their GDPs (12:30).
  • “Not a minor fraud—it’s not like he misspoke. You say you have $18 trillion and you don’t have even $1 trillion….” – Host (13:00)

7. Discrepancies in Accounts of Trump’s Health

• Trump’s former doctor, Ronnie Jackson, claims the Walter Reed visit was for a follow-up on “chronic venous insufficiency” and vaccinations before travel (13:31-13:58).
  • Quote:
    “There was a vascular study” – Dr. Ronny Jackson (13:31)
• Trump, in contrast, tells media he’s undergoing a “semiannual physical” and boasts about acing a cognitive exam, claiming superior fitness to Obama and Biden (14:21-15:53).
  • Quote:
    “I had a perfect score… not the easiest test… there aren’t a lot of people in this room that would get every single question right.” – Donald Trump (15:20)

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Memorable Quotes and Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:59 | Donald Trump | “Who are you with?” | | 04:02 | Donald Trump | “Dasha, Politico. Politico has gone bad… Politico is fake news.” | | 06:08 | Donald Trump | “Then literally you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second…” | | 07:33 | Donald Trump | “I don’t think there’s anything gonna get me in heaven… I may be in heaven right now as we fly on Air Force One.”| | 10:08 | Donald Trump | “Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Your taxes are coming down. See, everyone’s happy.” | | 13:31 | Dr. Ronny Jackson| “There was a vascular study… just follow up on like his venous issue.” | | 15:20 | Donald Trump | “I had a perfect score… There aren’t a lot of people in this room that would get every single question right.” |

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Notable Segments & Timestamps

• 01:31 – Host outlines concerns about Trump's health and recounts the incident with Dasha Burns.
• 04:00 – Trump fails to recognize Dasha Burns, raising immediate cognitive red flags.
• 05:42 – Trump’s geographical gaffe about Iran and Qatar.
• 07:17 – Trump’s musings on heaven and ending wars.
• 09:55 – Trump’s golf course comments contrasted with U.S. economic struggles.
• 12:00 – Breakdown of Trump’s $18 trillion claim and the CNN fact check.
• 13:31 – Dr. Ronny Jackson discusses Trump’s vascular health.
• 14:21 – Trump brags about his cognitive test results.

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Tone and Style

The tone is direct, urgent, and at times laced with the dry, brotherly wit that is typical of the Meiselas brothers. There’s a clear sense of exasperation at Trump’s apparent detachment from reality, along with a serious warning about what this means for democracy and the state of governance in America.

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Useful for Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode serves as a compendium of recent events, statements, and health rumors around Donald Trump—with audio and video evidence, fact checks, and cross-references to media coverage. The hosts string together news events, behaviors, and expert input to create a compelling case for concern—and push listeners to stay engaged in American democracy.

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Bottom Line:
The MeidasTouch brothers argue that Donald Trump’s public confusion, wild statements, and shifting medical narratives reveal a rapid and concerning health decline, which is exacerbated by his out-of-touch social behavior and repeated fabrications. They urge their audience to stay vigilant, fact-checked, and politically active.

Transcript

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[Political Commentator]

Donald Trump does not remember who is the President. He's weirdly shouting quote, do something likely at the clouds. His mental issues are very bad. That's what California Governor Gavin Newsom is saying and I couldn't agree more. Donald Trump's behavior even over the past 48 hours since he had that hospital visit to Walter Reed have showed more glaring red flags with we've analyzed the report before it talked about advanced imaging taking place now you would only do advanced imaging within a six month period of your last visit if there are some serious issues. We've speculated schema related, vascular related, cognitive related, potentially mini stroke related. Again, mere speculation. But Donald Trump's behavior has only intensified that speculation. And let me just give you a few data points. So one of the reporters who Donald Trump knows very well, he's very close with her. Her name is Dasha Burns. She speaks to Donald Trump on a regular basis. Donald Trump recognizes her like she's in the Oval Office a lot and she travels with him. So Donald Trump, when he was on Air Force One, was asked a question by her about tariffs with China. And then Donald Trump didn't recognize who she was even though they spoke a few days ago. And she's like, it's me, it's Dasha, we know each other. You want to go and ask Caroline Levitt, about me, I mean, we just spoke. Just give you the data here. So here's what she posted about four days ago. Dasha Burns, politico reporter, just got off the phone with Trump. What he said about how he's feeling after announcing a peace deal between Israel and Hamas. And again, I think it's important that we frame this as a ceasefire, not a peace deal. Peace. We'll have to see if it happens. It's a ceasefire. We all want the ceasefire to hold. But Donald Trump again has not said what phase two or three is. We know what phase one is. What's phase two and three? Because when Trump was asked about a two state solution, he didn't even know what that meant. Anyway, that's for another video. So here's when Dasha Burns asks Donald Trump a question, he goes, who, who you with? Who, who, who are you? Who are you? Here, play this clip.

[Donald Trump]

You know that than anybody.

[Commercial Narrator]

On China. Are you considering walking that way?

[Donald Trump]

Who are you with?

[Commercial Narrator]

Politico. Dasha Burns, sir.

[Donald Trump]

Dasha, Politico. Politico has gone bad. They've been so wrong about everything. Politico, no, no. Politico has been so wrong about everything. Let's get somebody else to ask some questions. You mind? Is that all right, Ms. Politico is fake news.

[Political Commentator]

And then Dasha says, it's me. Dasha, you want to go and ask Caroline Levitt who I am? Here, watch what she then says after that. Here, play this clip.

[Donald Trump]

Thank you very much. Tell them to be honest and not honest.

[Commercial Narrator]

Sir, talk to Caroline.

[Political Commentator]

She'll vouch for.

[Home Depot Spokesperson]

Thank you.

[Donald Trump]

My first time on the plane.

[Political Commentator]

Now, Donald Trump, while he was getting on Air Force One yesterday, didn't know what to do with an umbrella. We know he struggles a lot with umbrellas, doesn't know how to close the umbrella, just kind of leaves it in the door. It's another data point from yesterday. Just play this clip for you.

[News Anchor]

Let's play it over to the Middle East. We're going to be covering this historic visit throughout the night. And tomorrow we expect that the hostages, 20 of them still alive, their releases could be coming within hours and certainly through the overnight hours. We'll have those reports for you here on fox. The president giving a thumbs up as he boards Air Force One en route to a trip that many say could not have happened.

[Political Commentator]

Again. I'm just going to go by the last 24 hours. Right. Donald Trump claimed that you can walk from Qatar to Iran in just like a few seconds. That it's right There, across the border. That's not the case. I'll just show you a map right over here. Not a one second walk. Show you another view of it, just so you can see. Anyway, here's what Donald Trump said again, that it's a one second walk. Play this clip.

[Donald Trump]

Then literally you walk over from Iran to Qatar. You can walk it in one second, you go boom, boom. And now you're in Qatar.

[Political Commentator]

And it should be noted that California Governor Gavin Newsom was responding to Donald Trump's post where he said that the BIDEN FBI placed 274 agents into the crowd on January 6, 2021, when, when Donald Trump was in office. Then Donald Trump said, what a scam. Do something. Who are you? Who, what's the scam? What do you mean, do something? You were in office on January 6, 2021. You controlled the. On that period of time. And so what the hell are you even talking about there, by the way? So here then Donald Trump talks about not getting into heaven. And he's having lots of conversations about will he get into heaven or will he not get into heaven? This is not the first time he's had that conversation again, but very, very bizarre times. And geez, what the hell you think is in these Epstein files? Here, Play this clip right here.

[Donald Trump]

You had talked a couple weeks ago, you were doing an interview and you talked about how you hope to end the war in Ukraine because it might help you get into heaven. How does, how does this help? Does this help? I mean, you know, I'm being a little cute. I don't think there's anything gonna get me in heaven.

[Donald Trump (Interview)]

Okay.

[Donald Trump]

I really don't. I think, I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly an Air Force One. I'm not sure, Abe, I'm gonna be able to make heaven, but I've made life a lot better for a lot of people. And you know, as an example, had the, had the election of 2020 not been rigged, you would have millions of people living just in Russia, Ukraine alone.

[Political Commentator]

Now, I think this is really important for me to bring this up. The Medicare annual enrollment period is here. This is the time to compare your options. If you don't, your costs could go up, your coverage could change, or your plan could disappear entirely. So listen up. That's why I recommend you reach out to our partners chapter. They're the only advisors who look at every single plan in the country and provide honest advice to Americans on Medicare. It's why we work with them at the Midas Touch network in under 20 minutes they can see if you're already on the best plan for your needs. If you are, they'll tell you. If not, they'll help you switch for free. They've already helped many members of the Midas Touch community and they can help you too. Don't get duped by brokers who are pushing the plans that pay them the biggest kickbacks and and don't wait until December to figure out your plan for next year. Call chapter today at 82 Medicare. That's 8 to Medicare and get honest advice today. Give them a call and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I know the Midas mighty have been very happy with the results. You know, and then yesterday, Donald Trump was driving around his golf course, of course paid for by the taxpayers and he was there with his granddaughter. And I just want you to watch what we're, what we're seeing here. We're in a government shutdown. Americans are getting their health care taken away. People are suffering, living paycheck to paycheck, psychologically tortured, most credit card delinquencies in recent history. Worst housing market since 1995. Highest jobless claims since the Great Recession. Construction recession, manufacturing recession, tourism, Great Recession. Right now, farmers are in Farmageddon. They're going bankrupt. People are struggling. But Donald Trump is driving around his golf course with his rich friends there and he's saying, your taxes are coming down. You like, hey, your taxes are coming down again. Watch. This is someone who's deeply, deeply unwell. Play this clip.

[Donald Trump (Interview)]

Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Your taxes are coming down. See, everyone's happy.

[Political Commentator]

Honey, that's awesome.

[Donald Trump (Interview)]

We've done a good job. Run through the nine halls.

[Political Commentator]

Then in terms of what the social media messaging looks like, it's like squiggly figures or like whatever, like doodles. We are doubling down. We see you, we hear you. But thanks to the government shutdown, we are doubling down. Omg. I can't believe the White House posted this. We heard your feedback. Then again, he's just posting weird images of Democratic leaders wearing sombreros. Very strange behavior. He's posting photographs of triumphant arches. That's his new obsession. After a golden ballroom, he wants to build a triumphant arch in Washington, D.C. dude, we just want health care. There's 20 million Americans are about to be kicked off health care and you gave $20 billion to bail out Argentina instead of help 20 million Americans who are about to lose their health care or have their premium skyrocket because of the removal of the ACA subsidies. And that's. You're posting triumphant arches. Cnn finally, after we've been reporting on this, what now? Every single day for the past four months saying this, Donald Trump keeps lying about $17 trillion. So you know, Trump gets up there and I brought in 17 trillion. It's actually $18 trillion now. So CNN did a fact check of Donald Trump saying 17 trillion over and over again. A reminder, Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was 62 billion or $63 billion. Donald Trump's is 18 trillion because he keeps saying we have all this money when you actually go through. And they asked Trump, so where do you get this number from? He's like 1 trillion from Qatar. Qatar's annual GDP is $166 billion. How are they giving us $1 trillion if their overall, they're giving us their entire GDP for 10 years. UAE is giving us, he says, $1.4 trillion. Their entire GDP, like $440 billion. So what? They're giving us four years of their entire GDP. Of course, they're not $1 trillion from Japan, but Japan just giving us a check for $1 trillion. Again, just weird lies to $600 billion from EU firms, $600 billion from Saudi Arabia, $1 trillion in vague corporate pledges. Even when you go through Donald Trump's con, it equals $8.8 trillion. And again, this isn't like a minor fraud. Like, it's not like, oh, you know, he misspoke. I mean, you say you have $18 trillion and you don't have even 1 trillion and you just lie all of the time. Now, we all know about Donald Trump's visit to Walter Reed. His former doctor, Ronnie Jackson, right before the visit said it was actually to deal with follow up for his vascular issues. You know, Trump has the, the, the Venus Serious Venous insufficiency. Chronic venous insufficiency. And here's what Ronny Jackson said it was about. Play this clip.

[Dr. Ronny Jackson]

They took him up there. They were just doing some stuff. They were doing some venous, some follow up on like his venous issue. You know, he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency. So there was a vascular study that was done. They were just looking at follow up that was recommended. Last time he had the annual physical done, that follow up was being done. He got his vaccines for that. He, that he's due out, especially with some of his upcoming travels. He got all of his travel vaccines updated.

[Political Commentator]

But then Donald Trump said something different. He says it's about cognitive. Uh, he t. He took cognitive exams and he aced it. And then he says that he's more fit than Obama and Biden. You know, we. Weird lies. We are very weird. Weird behavior and weird lies. But here, play this clip.

[News Anchor]

I wanted to change gears just really quickly and ask you, you're going to Walter Reed tomorrow. Are you. What are you having done and do you have.

[Commercial Narrator]

How are you feeling?

[Donald Trump (Interview)]

I'm meeting with the troops, and I'm also going to do a sort of semiannual physical, which I do, and I think I'm in great shape. But I'll let you know. But I know I have no difficulty thus far. Is there wood around here? Knockoff? No difficulty. Physically, I feel very good. Mentally, I feel very good. You know, I did about six, seven months ago. I do physicals. I like to. When I'm around, I like to check. Always early, always be early. It's a lesson for a lot of people. But I also did a cognitive exam, which is always very risky because if I didn't do well, you'd be the first to be blaring it. And I had a perfect score. And one of the doctors said, he's almost never seen a perfect score. I had a perfect. A perfect score. I got the highest score. And that made me feel good.

[Donald Trump]

Good.

[Donald Trump (Interview)]

When they asked, would I like to do one? I said, yeah. I said, did Obama do it? No. Did Bush do it? No. Did Biden do it? I definitely did. Biden wouldn't have gotten the first three questions right. No. Biden didn't do it. Biden should have done it. I'm actually a person that believes that if you're president, you should do a cognitive exam. But last time I took a cognitive exam and it was a perfect score, the doctors announced it. And by the way, not the easiest test. The first few questions are pretty easy. Once you get into the middle, it gets a little trickier. And there aren't a lot of people in this room that would get every single question right.

[Political Commentator]

I can guarantee you're putting me in a difficult spot. So, again, I think California governor Gavin Newsom's right to point out what we observe, what we're observing with our eyes. Right. But that's where we're at. We'll keep you posted every step of the way. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. Thanks so much for watching. Love this video, support independent media and unlock exclusive content ad free videos and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel. Today, you can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together.