Trump fuels mental health speculation after appearing to post private message

President Donald Trump, who turns 80 in three weeks, posted a seemingly-private message on his public Truth Social media account — and in the process continued the ongoing conversation about his mental fitness.“Mike: Thank you for your nice words on Fox,” Trump posted on Truth Social at 7:30 AM on Monday, seemingly in reference to Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent appearance on Fox News. “We are on the same path. Keep up the great work. Good luck on the Show! President DJT."This is not the first time Trump has apparently shared a private message on his public account. On Sept. 20, Trump publicly posted a private-seeming note to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in which he urged her to prosecute his perceived enemies like former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action,” Trump wrote at the time. “Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”Regarding his most recent post, The Mirror chronicled several users who argued the posts are further evidence of Trump suffering an apparent cognitive decline.“ Sh–- like this is why he gets 3 checkups in 13 months,” one X user wrote.A different user added, “Time to ace another cognitive exam.”“How do I open a PDF File???” another joked. “President DJT.”In Facebook comments under The Independent’s post about Trump’s comments, a user named Edmond Dowling posted “And he has the codes folks!! 😄😄,” a seeming reference to Trump controlling America’s access to nuclear weapons.“Soooo, the ceasefire is over in .0005 seconds already?” a user named Gustave Bizimana added. He was joined by a user named Pilar Cuesta, who quipped “Do the Iranian Ships have the Epstein Files on them?”Speaking with AlterNet earlier this month, Dr. Henry Abraham — an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Tufts University who led a group of 36 top physicians and mental health experts that issued a public statement to Congress warning about Trump’s mental state — explained how Trump appears to exhibit symptoms consistent with cognitive decline.Citing his recent Substack post which described that “this is not an academic exercise” because “the president’s condition appears to be deteriorating,” Abraham told AlterNet that “there has been a frightening progression of symptoms. These include grandiosity without moral safeguards, paranoia, impulsivity, vindictiveness, easy misperception of being harmed, moments of omnipotence, uncontrolled rage, and sole control over the use of nuclear weapons in a time of war.”He concluded, “As a psychiatrist reviewing these, I can only say Yikes!”