President Donald Trump, 80, became sharply focused on unflattering coverage of his swollen ankles during a tense moment inside the White House, according to a new book that also describes private concerns among some aides about signs of aging.
Trump is positioned to become the oldest person to serve as U.S. president, a distinction that would put him ahead of former President Joe Biden, who was 82 when he left office.
In Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write that, even as Trump and his physicians have continued to portray him as being in “exceptional” health, some around him have noticed the physical toll that comes with his age.
The authors report that “some of Trump’s aides began to say privately that for the first time he was beginning to seem old to them.”
“Those who spent time with him could see the signs — the moments of fatigue, the cupped hand behind the ear — but Trump’s personal dominance in any room often papered over what his body could no longer fully conceal,” Haberman and Swan wrote.
Such concerns have not been aired publicly by senior officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for instance, said earlier this month that he had never seen the president fall asleep during a meeting.
One issue Trump did want addressed directly, according to the book, was the attention paid to his enlarged ankles, which have been attributed to chronic venous insufficiency.
“Trump was upset about all the coverage of his swollen ankles, and he insisted Karoline Leavitt address it at the podium,” Haberman and Swan wrote. “Others in the West Wing thought formally addressing his ‘cankles’ was a peculiar choice, but it reflected the President’s intense concern about his appearance.”
In the new book, Regime Change, journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write that the Oval Office press conferences are held due to 80-year-old President Donald Trump being hard of hearing and the ‘acoustics are better’ than in the White House’s East Room
The authors wrote that President Donald Trump was upset about the coverage of his swollen ankles (pictured) and so had White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt address his chronic venous insufficiency during a briefing
Other old-age concerns have been addressed more quietly.
For instance, the frequent Oval Office press conferences were for a reason.
‘He was also having trouble hearing, asking people to repeat questions they had just asked,’ they wrote.
‘Joint press conferences with world leaders were more often held in the Oval Office than in the East Room, in part because the acoustics were better, and he didn’t have to stand for an hour,’ they added.
He’s also taken to doing seated round tables, including one in Wisconsin earlier this month, instead of the rallies where he would stand onstage for more than an hour.
In contrast to his intense travel schedule during the 2024 campaign, the authors characterized Trump in his second term as a ‘homebody.’
‘In the first year of his second term, he became almost entirely housebound, shuttling mainly between his comfort zones – the White House or one of his clubs,’ they noted.
Trump had told aides at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, the authors wrote, that he was done with rallies.
While the book details President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term, he’s recently done more seated events, including one in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin earlier this month
Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan arrives in bookstores Tuesday
‘This was barely a surprise to those around him, given the two assassination attempts,’ they said. ‘He had worried about his personal safety traveling outside the White House during his first term but was now far more cautious than ever before.’
The book also details how, in his second term, Trump made the White House feel more like home.
The Daily Mail previously reported, citing Haberman and Swan’s book, that the President went on a scavenging expedition to decorate his White House bedroom, which some Presidents have used as a living room.
He had given First Lady Melania Trump the White House’s master bedroom, but took some of the decor she had picked out for other areas of the residence and moved it into his chambers.
‘Trump had every comfort close at hand,’ the authors also wrote. ‘His longtime aide and personal valet, Walt Nauta (who bore the title director of Oval Office operations) would carry around not just the usual personal items – makeup, hairspray, Tic Tacs – but also scissors so that Trump could snip his hair when he found that it was getting too long in the back, poking over his collar.’
Being at the White House so much also meant Trump could keep to his ‘night owl’ schedule.
‘He had never been a big sleeper, but now it seemed to his staff that he was sleeping even less, keeping stranger hours than he had in his first term,’ the authors wrote.
They noted that sometimes the President would be up early – doing a combination of watching TV, talking on the phone and posting to Truth Social.
‘But occasionally, aides couldn’t reach him during the hours between eight and then, which they soon came to realize meant he had stayed up all night, on the phone or watching television or both, only to finally catch some sleep around four or five in the morning,’ they revealed.
And sometimes, even the President needs some Zzzzs.
‘One late morning, when no one had heard from the President and staff had been unable to reach him, an aide checked on the President only to find that he was still asleep in the residence,’ they found.
When asked about the assertions found in the book, a White House spokesperson pointed a finger at Biden.
‘President Trump’s sharpness, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the last administration when Democrats and the legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people,’ spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Mail. ‘President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises.’
Regime Change arrives in bookstores on Tuesday.
