Donald Trump suffered a stroke last year, claims doctor

President Donald Trump suffered a stroke last year and has gone to lengths to hide it from the US public, according to one doctor’s claim.

Professor Bruce Davidson of Washington State University says he has evidence to back up his startling assertion, with it reported by the Daily Beast that he’s of the opinion the sitting POTUS experienced the serious health scare several months ago.

Professor Davidson, a medical expert from Washington State University’s college of medicine, believes there are numerous signs that prove his claim, even going so far as to reveal what side of Trump’s brain was affected by the supposed stroke.

Doctor claims Donald Trump had a stroke

“I think his stroke was on the left side of the brain, which controls the right side of the body,” Davidson told biographer Sidney Blumenthal and Princeton historian Sean Wilentz on their podcast, The Court of History.

He continued: “I think the stroke was six months ago or more, earlier in 2025.

“There are videos of him shuffling his feet, which is not what we’d seen previously when he was striding on the golf course.

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MARYLAND – JANUARY 13: U.S. President Donald Trump walks down the air stairs after landing on Air Force One on January 13, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump spent the day in Detroit participating in a tour of the Ford River Rouge complex and speaking at the Detroit Economic Club. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We’ve seen him holding his right hand cradled in his left.

“Earlier in 2025, he was garbling words, which he hadn’t done before and which he’s improved upon more recently.”

The WSU professor also drew attention to Trump’s apparent hypersomnolence, or, as Davidson describes it, “marked episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness.” The professor says Trump’s habit of falling asleep during public appearances at the White House (there have been several such purported incidents recently) is an issue that commonly affects stroke patients.

If that wasn’t enough, Davidson also speculated on footage of Trump disembarking Air Force One holding the bannister with his left hand despite being right-handed. This, the professor claims, is ‘consistent with having had a stroke on the left side of the brain’.

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 25: A bruise is visible on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump’s right hand during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in the Oval Office at the White House on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the bruising in February and she responded, “President Trump has bruises on his hand because he’s constantly working and shaking hands all day every day.” (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Obviously short of Trump announcing the bombshell news himself, there’s no way of knowing one way or the other if the claim is legitimate, but Davidson did admit that if his assertion is correct, the President “looks like he’s had significant recovery.”

Trump’s health

One aspect firmly beyond reproach is that there has been considerable focus of late on Trump’s alleged waning health. Members of his administration have been forced to explain why the 79-year-old has frequently appeared in public sporting large bruises – that he’s tried and failed to conceal with makeup – while his periodic, rambling rants on Truth Social have been used by detractors to fuel speculation that he is experiencing some sort of cognitive decline.

Concerns were also raised online after Trump’s appearance at an event to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, where the President’s face reportedly drooped to one side. Online theories at the time suggested it could have pointed towards a recent stroke, though we’ll stress that no official diagnosis has ever been confirmed.

During a recent appearance on Katie Miller’s podcast, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed Trump’s diet, stating that he’s amazed the president is still alive.

“The interesting thing about the president is that he eats really bad food, which is McDonald’s, and, you know, candy and Diet Coke,” RFK said.

“But he drinks Diet Coke at all times. He has the constitution of a deity. I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is.”

Doubling down on his claims that the POTUS suffered a stroke last year, Davidson added later in his aforementioned appearance on The Court of History podcast that Trump’s aggressive, unpredictable, and erratic style of governance during his second White House term could be indicative of a stroke-victim’s behavioral changes.

“It’s a very serious, concerning, life-threatening, upsetting, scary event, and people react in different ways,” Davidson said.

“Some people respond with humility and gratitude. Others become euphoric—‘I was at the cliff of death, and now I’m back.’ And some think, ‘That was my chance to die, and I didn’t—so now I’m going to do everything I wanted to do, because the next one may be fatal.’”

Moving to refute the claims, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly told the Daily Beast: “As the President’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, has made clear time and again—and as the American people see with their own eyes every single day—President Trump remains in excellent overall health.”

She added: “President Trump’s relentless work ethic, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in sharp contrast to what we saw during the past four years when the failing legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people.

“Pushing these fake and desperate narratives now about President Trump is why Americans’ trust in the media just fell to a new all-time low.”

What do you make to the claims that Donald Trump might have suffered a stroke last year? Let us know in the comments.

READ MORE

 

Read more about...