Trump: Someone is not ‘telling the facts' about Biden's cancer diagnosis
The US president suggested Mr Biden or his medical team had sought to cover up his illness and cognitive decline during his time in office, calling it a 'very sad situation'.
Mr Biden's office revealed on Sunday that the former president had been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer which had metastasised to the bone.
Asked about his predecessor's diagnosis, Mr Trump said: 'I think it's very sad, actually. I'm surprised that the public wasn't notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine, that's a long time.'
Mr Biden's cancer – which is a grade nine on the Gleason scale, marking it as aggressive – is said to have been diagnosed on Friday after doctors discovered a nodule on his prostate the week before.
Speaking to reporters on Monday evening, Mr Trump expressed scepticism that the cancer would not have been detected on Mr Biden's annual physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland.
'Why did it take so long? I mean, this takes a long time, it can take years to get to this level of danger,' he said.
'So it's a very, very sad situation. I feel very badly about it, and I think people should try and find out what happened.
'Walter Reed… is really good. They're some of the best doctors I've ever seen. I don't even know if they were involved, but a doctor was involved in each case.
'Maybe it was the same doctor, and somebody is not telling the facts. That's a big problem.'
Although some doctors have expressed surprise that Mr Biden's cancer was not detected earlier, others suggested that it may have developed rapidly since his last physical examination.
Prof Karol Sikora, a former director of the World Health Organisation Cancer programme, told The Telegraph Mr Biden's late diagnosis was 'very unusual'.
He said it could have been 'a cover-up by his doctors' that had been hidden for months or years, but was more likely to be 'a rapid-growing cancer'.
Mr Biden's last physical exam at Walter Reed took place in February last year and was overseen by his personal physician, Dr Kevin O'Connor, who declared the then-president 'fit for duty' and said there were 'no new concerns' about his health.
It comes as Mr Biden faces renewed questions about his mental acuity in office following the publication of a new book, Original Sin, which reported he had forgotten the names of close aides whom he had known for decades.
'This is dangerous for our country'
On Monday, Mr Trump raised questions about why Mr Biden's doctors had not raised concerns about his 'cognitive ability'.
'And I think the doctor said he's just fine, and it's turned out that's not so,' he continued.
'It's very dangerous. Look, this is no longer politically correct. This is dangerous for our country.
'Look at the mess we're in. You're talking about all these questions on Ukraine and Russia – that would have never happened.'
Mr Biden never received a cognitive test during his time in office, despite calls from critics for him to submit to one during the 2024 election campaign.
He told an interviewer in July that his role as president meant he had 'a cognitive test every single day', amid calls from Democrats to drop his re-election bid following a faltering debate performance.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters Mr Trump was not concerned about a declining standard of care at Walter Reed, calling its medical team 'phenomenal'.
On Monday, JD Vance, the vice president, raised concerns that the public had been kept in the dark about Mr Biden's health struggles during his time in the White House.
'Why didn't the American people have more accurate information about what he was actually dealing with?' he asked.
. @VP JD Vance on former President Biden's cancer diagnosis: "We really do need to be honest about whether the former president was capable of doing the job...I don't think that he was in good enough health. In some ways, I blame him less than I blame the people around him." pic.twitter.com/0DYOd2mu4G
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 19, 2025
Mr Biden released a statement on social media on Monday, which read: 'Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learnt that we are strongest in the broken places.
'Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.'
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