Medical expert claims Trump suffered a stroke, cites Air Force One stair footage as evidence

WASHINGTON, DC: A clinical professor of medicine has publicly claimed that President Donald Trump suffered a stroke earlier, pointing to what he described as a pattern of physical and behavioral changes- including a recent video showing Trump descending the stairs of Air Force One.

The assertion was made by Bruce Davidson, a clinical professor at Washington State University’s Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, during an appearance on the 'Court of History' podcast, hosted by Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz.

Bruce Davidson says several lines of evidence show Trump has had a stroke

“My impression is that President Trump has had a stroke and I think there’s several lines of evidence supporting that,” Davidson said during the podcast. “I think his stroke was on the left side of the brain, which controls the right side of the body.”

Davidson stressed that he was offering a medical opinion based on publicly available observations rather than a clinical examination.

Trump is the oldest president ever to take office. Questions about his health have followed him throughout his second term, fueled by widely circulated footage showing physical stumbles, moments of apparent fatigue during daytime events, and episodes of slurred or halting speech.

The White House has repeatedly said the president is in excellent physical and mental condition.

Bruce Davidson on Trump's behavioral changes

Davidson said he believes the stroke occurred “six months ago or more,” sometime earlier in 2025.

He pointed to changes in Trump’s movement and posture that he said were inconsistent with the president’s prior physical behavior.

“There’s video of him shuffling his feet, which is not what we’d seen him doing previously, striding on the golf course,” Davidson said. “We’ve seen him holding his right hand in his left, cradling.”

He also cited episodes of speech difficulty earlier in the year, which he said appeared to have improved over time, as well as what he described as excessive daytime sleepiness.

“The medical term is hypersomnolence, which is characteristic of many patients after they’ve had a stroke,” Davidson said.

One moment Davidson highlighted was footage showing Trump walking down the stairs of Air Force One while holding the handrail with his left hand, despite being right-handed.

“All of this is consistent with having had a stroke on the left side of his brain,” Davidson said. “A stroke is an area of infarction. It’s an area of dead tissue.”

Psychological effects after stroke

Davidson also described what he believes may be Trump’s psychological response to surviving a major health event.

“People who have a stroke — it’s a very serious, concerning, life-threatening, upsetting, scary thing,” he said. “Some people respond with humility and others become positively euphoric and some view it as, ‘That was my chance to die, and I didn’t.’”

He suggested that this mindset could help explain what observers have described as an accelerated pace of policy announcements, military decisions, and increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward political opponents.

Bruce Davidson on Trump's aspirin dosage

Another factor Davidson cited was Trump’s recent admission that he takes a full-dose aspirin daily.

Trump discussed the issue earlier this month in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying the medication had caused visible bruising on his hand.

“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump said. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”

To Davidson, it did not.

“The instruction to take one full aspirin, 325 milligrams daily, is solely for prevention of recurrent repeat stroke,” he claimed, adding that such a dosage is not recommended for routine cardiac prevention.

Earlier, Trump said that White House doctors confirmed he was in perfect health, adding he passed a cognitive test.

Trump's MRI vs CT scan confusion

Davidson also addressed Trump’s recent comments about undergoing imaging scans, noting that Trump initially said he had an MRI before later saying it was a CT scan.

“There is no mistaking an MRI for a CT,” Davidson said, explaining the length, noise, and procedure involved in brain MRI scans. “When President Trump said he had an MRI, he undoubtedly did.”

He suggested Trump likely underwent both CT scans of the chest and abdomen and an MRI of the brain.

Despite his concerns, Davidson said he does not believe Trump is suffering from dementia.

“He doesn’t behave demented,” Davidson said, adding that Trump appears capable of understanding and responding to questions during press interactions.

He also said there is currently no reason to invoke the 25th Amendment, which allows for presidential removal due to incapacity.