Latest news with #LincolnProject
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Republicans toe Trump line even in aftermath of deadly Texas floods
The US is reeling after catastrophic floods killed more than 100 people in Texas, including 27 children and counsellors from an all-girls Christian camp. On Monday, Democrats asked a government watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) affected the forecasting agency's performance. But Republicans' default response has been to express fealty to Donald Trump. They lavished praise on the president for providing federal assistance while studiously avoiding questions around the effect of his 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) or threats to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). 'It is a sign of the sickness and dysfunction of what was the Republican party that they have almost no thoughts about their constituents,' said Rick Wilson, a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. 'Their thoughts are, how do I avoid making sure that Donald Trump doesn't look at me as an enemy or a critic? 'Despite the fact that the Doge cuts and the reductions in force and the early buyouts have savaged the workforce of the National Weather Service, they can't even utter the slightest vague, elliptical critique of the administration that is now engaged in these cuts that have cost the lives of the people they supposedly represent.' The raging flash floods – among the US's worst in decades – slammed into riverside camps and homes in central Texas before daybreak on Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Authorities say the death toll is sure to rise as crews look for the many who are still missing. Republicans have long been criticised for responding to mass shootings with 'thoughts and prayers', as if the tragedy transcends politics. Similarly, party leaders have sought to blame a freak act of nature rather than contemplating a potential association with Trump's policies – or with the broader threat of the climate crisis, seemingly a taboo subject under the current administration. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, praised Trump for approving a major disaster declaration that ensured state and local government have more resources to deal with the emergency. 'The swift and very robust action by President Trump is an extraordinary help to our response,' he said. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, tweeted 'Thank you @POTUS Trump' for the declaration and told Fox News: 'The National Weather Service under President Trump has been working to put in new technology and a new system because it's been neglected for years. It's an ancient system that needed to be upgraded and so President Trump recognised that right away and got to work on it when he came into office in January.' Senator Ted Cruz wrote on the X social media platform that 'President Trump committed ANYTHING Texas needs', while telling a press conference: 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time.' Trump himself has struck a similar tone, deflecting questions about whether he is still planning to phase out Fema. He said he does not plan to re-hire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. The president told reporters on Sunday: 'That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe.' But scrutiny of whether more could have been done to avoid the tragedy is already under way. Texas officials criticised the NWS, arguing that it failed to warn the public about impending danger. The NWS defended its forecasting and emergency management, stating that it assigned extra forecasters to the San Antonio and San Angelo offices over the holiday weekend. But a top leadership role at the NWS's San Antonio office has been vacant since earlier this year after Paul Yura accepted an offer from the Trump administration to retire. Doge, formerly led by the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been pushing the NWS to cut jobs and gave hundreds of employees the option to retire early rather than face potential dismissal. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, asked the commerce department's acting inspector general to investigate whether staffing vacancies at the NWS's San Antonio office contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasting the flooding. Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to politicise the tragedy. Wilson, a political consultant who has worked on numerous campaigns, said: 'It is an ongoing family psychodrama inside the Republican party, where everyone is desperately, deeply afraid that they will put a foot wrong with Donald Trump and that's why there's absolutely no candour with these folks about what has happened to the people they represent.' Some commentators suggest that Republicans will ultimately pay a political price for their blind devotion and for last week passing Trump's cost-cutting Big, Beautiful Act. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: 'It's a vision of the future because every time there is something tragic that happens, not just a natural disaster but a mass shooting or you fill in the blank, somebody is going to find a connection to these deep cuts in government engineered by Trump and Musk. 'I think Trump and the Republicans need to get used to this. It may not hurt Trump, but it could potentially and should hurt some of the members of Congress from competitive states and districts that voted for the BBB.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Republicans toe Trump line even in aftermath of deadly Texas floods
The US is reeling after catastrophic floods killed more than 100 people in Texas, including 27 children and counsellors from an all-girls Christian camp. On Monday, Democrats asked a government watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) affected the forecasting agency's performance. But Republicans' default response has been to express fealty to Donald Trump. They lavished praise on the president for providing federal assistance while studiously avoiding questions around the effect of his 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) or threats to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). 'It is a sign of the sickness and dysfunction of what was the Republican party that they have almost no thoughts about their constituents,' said Rick Wilson, a cofounder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. 'Their thoughts are, how do I avoid making sure that Donald Trump doesn't look at me as an enemy or a critic? 'Despite the fact that the Doge cuts and the reductions in force and the early buyouts have savaged the workforce of the National Weather Service, they can't even utter the slightest vague, elliptical critique of the administration that is now engaged in these cuts that have cost the lives of the people they supposedly represent.' The raging flash floods – among the US's worst in decades – slammed into riverside camps and homes in central Texas before daybreak on Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Authorities say the death toll is sure to rise as crews look for the many who are still missing. Republicans have long been criticised for responding to mass shootings with 'thoughts and prayers', as if the tragedy transcends politics. Similarly, party leaders have sought to blame a freak act of nature rather than contemplating a potential association with Trump's policies – or with the broader threat of the climate crisis, seemingly a taboo subject under the current administration. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, praised Trump for approving a major disaster declaration that ensured state and local government have more resources to deal with the emergency. 'The swift and very robust action by President Trump is an extraordinary help to our response,' he said. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, tweeted 'Thank you @POTUS Trump' for the declaration and told Fox News: 'The National Weather Service under President Trump has been working to put in new technology and a new system because it's been neglected for years. It's an ancient system that needed to be upgraded and so President Trump recognised that right away and got to work on it when he came into office in January.' Senator Ted Cruz wrote on the X social media platform that 'President Trump committed ANYTHING Texas needs', while telling a press conference: 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time.' Trump himself has struck a similar tone, deflecting questions about whether he is still planning to phase out Fema. He said he does not plan to re-hire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. The president told reporters on Sunday: 'That water situation, that all is, and that was really the Biden setup. But I wouldn't blame Biden for it, either. I would just say this is a 100-year catastrophe.' But scrutiny of whether more could have been done to avoid the tragedy is already under way. Texas officials criticised the NWS, arguing that it failed to warn the public about impending danger. The NWS defended its forecasting and emergency management, stating that it assigned extra forecasters to the San Antonio and San Angelo offices over the holiday weekend. But a top leadership role at the NWS's San Antonio office has been vacant since earlier this year after Paul Yura accepted an offer from the Trump administration to retire. Doge, formerly led by the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been pushing the NWS to cut jobs and gave hundreds of employees the option to retire early rather than face potential dismissal. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, asked the commerce department's acting inspector general to investigate whether staffing vacancies at the NWS's San Antonio office contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasting the flooding. Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to politicise the tragedy. Wilson, a political consultant who has worked on numerous campaigns, said: 'It is an ongoing family psychodrama inside the Republican party, where everyone is desperately, deeply afraid that they will put a foot wrong with Donald Trump and that's why there's absolutely no candour with these folks about what has happened to the people they represent.' Some commentators suggest that Republicans will ultimately pay a political price for their blind devotion and for last week passing Trump's cost-cutting Big, Beautiful Act. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: 'It's a vision of the future because every time there is something tragic that happens, not just a natural disaster but a mass shooting or you fill in the blank, somebody is going to find a connection to these deep cuts in government engineered by Trump and Musk. 'I think Trump and the Republicans need to get used to this. It may not hurt Trump, but it could potentially and should hurt some of the members of Congress from competitive states and districts that voted for the BBB.'
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tanks, flypasts, missiles: what to expect at Trump's ‘dictator chic' military parade
It will be a parade fit for a king – which is precisely why critics worry what message it will send the rest of the world about the future of democracy in America. On Saturday there will be tanks on the streets of the nation's capital as Washington hosts a celebration of the US army's 250th anniversary, which happens to coincide with Donald Trump's 79th birthday. While the army has said it has no plans to recognize Trump's birthday, the president will play a major role in a made-for-TV extravaganza that will reportedly feature rocket launchers and missiles. The show of military might comes just a week after Trump activated thousands of national guard troops and marines to quell protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Opponents draw a direct line from that crackdown to Saturday's authoritarian display of dominance. Related: US immigration officials raid California farms as Trump ramps up conflict 'He's adopted not only the signifiers of dictator chic but the actual articles of its faith,' said Rick Wilson, a political strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. 'North Korea: military parades. China: military parades. Russia: military parades. 'These aren't parades to celebrate a victory and it's certainly not to celebrate the United States army's birthday. This is a parade to aggrandise Donald Trump's ego. No one who knows either Trump or his pattern of behavior would think for a minute this is anything else.' The army's 250th anniversary was originally conceived as a modest affair: a year ago it filed a permit request for an event on the National Mall featuring 300 people, a concert by the army band and the firing of four cannon. Trump's election, however, led to a radical change of plan. About 6,700 troops, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft will be in Washington for a grand celebration. The vehicles have been moved to the city on trains and bigger trucks, while the helicopters will fly in. There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday morning followed by a fitness competition and an army birthday festival on the National Mall, including equipment displays and military demonstrations. The day will culminate with a parade through the city. A total of 28 M1 Abrams tanks, each weighing more than 60 tons, as well as 28 tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 wheeled Stryker combat vehicles, four tracked M-109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers and other towed artillery will maneuver to the start of the parade route just off the National Mall. They will travel toward the White House, driving over thick metal plating to protect the streets at some points where the vehicles make a sharp turn. The parade will also feature 34 horses, two mules and one dog. The Axios news site reported that a system used to launch rockets in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria will also on be show, and there will be a static display of precision-guided missiles. A flypast will include Apache and Black Hawk helicopters along with Chinooks. Older aircraft like a second world war-era B-25 bomber and P-51 Mustang will also take part. The helicopters are flying at a time when sharing Washington airspace is still a sensitive issue after a January collision between an army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday: 'It's going to be a parade the likes of which I don't know if we've ever had a parade like that. It's going to be incredible. We have a lot of those army airplanes flying over the top and we have tanks all over the place. And we have thousands and thousands of soldiers going to bravely march down the streets.' It will be the kind of spectacle in which Trump is known to revel. He will preside over an enlistment and re-enlistment ceremony. The US army Golden Knights team will parachute in and present him with a flag. There will also be a fireworks display in the Washington night sky. Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, said: 'It speaks to something quite fundamental in Trump's overall outlook. In many ways he is a very visual person and he is obsessed with not only how he looks but how everybody else looks as well. The spectacle of a big parade appeals to him for its visuality, if I could coin a term.' Yet Trump is an unlikely warrior. He did not serve in Vietnam, instead receiving five deferments – four for university, one for the medical reason of bone spurs in his heels. He was the first person to be elected president with no prior political or military experience. He has been forced to deny a report that he disparaged dead soldiers as 'losers' and 'suckers'. Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, suggests that Trump is using the military as a prop. 'He doesn't particularly like the military,' Blumenthal said. 'He's wary of the military. He's engaging in retribution against the military. He's fired much of the upper level of the flag officers because he doesn't trust them. 'He said he wants generals like Hitler's generals. He said he wanted to execute Mark Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He fired General CQ Brown, the last chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, because he made a single remark involving racial dignity. He has no use for the military except as decoration of his own grandiosity.' Critics say the display of pomp and pageantry is wasteful, especially as Trump slashes costs throughout the federal government, and represents an effort to link his projection of power with military authority. Public opposition will be expressed in more than 2,000 protest events all over the country under the rubric 'No Kings'. Organisers say they will not be hosting an event in Washington because they do not want the birthday parade to be the centre of gravity. Instead a major flagship march and rally will be held in Philadelphia, the cradle of US democracy. Even so, thousands of agents, officers and specialists from law enforcement agencies from across the country will descend on Washington. Security preparations include Secret Service drones, 18.5 miles of anti-scale fencing, 17 miles of concrete barriers, 175 magnetometers and officers from federal, state and local agencies standing guard. Officials said the Secret Service was tracking nine possible demonstrations in Washington and was ready to respond if they turn violent. Matt McCool, US Secret Service special agent in charge, told a press briefing on Monday: 'That will be handled swiftly.' The army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend and that putting on the celebration will cost an estimated $25m to $45m. That includes the parade itself as well as the cost of moving equipment and housing and feeding the troops. It excludes costs the city of Washington will have to bear, such as trash cleanup, although the army has said it will pay for any unexpected repairs. Democrats argue that Trump is taking over the army's birthday for himself. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, told the Reuters news agency: 'This is Trump. This is all about his ego and making everything 'him', which is, I think, a discredit to the military, the army.' Military parades in the US are generally rare, although Presidents Harry Truman and John F Kennedy's inaugurations featured displays of equipment. In 1991 tanks and thousands of troops, led by Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait in the Gulf war. Trump has made no secret of his desire to hold military parades. During his first administration, he ordered the Pentagon to look into a display of military might after a 2017 trip to France where he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, reviewed that country's defense forces marching down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Trump subsequently told reporters: 'It was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen. It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.' He previewed: 'We're going to have to try to top it.' But the Pentagon had other ideas. Jim Mattis, Trump's first defence secretary, compared the idea to Soviet Union-like displays of authoritarian power and privately remarked, 'I'd rather swallow acid,' according to Holding the Line, a 2019 book by Guy Snodgrass, a retired navy pilot and former Mattis aide. Trump ultimately settled for a display of tanks and other armoured vehicles during an independence day celebration in Washington on 4 July 2019. Nearly six years later, however, Trump will get his way now that the likes of Mattis have been succeeded by devout loyalists such as the current defence secretary, Pete Hegseth. Wilson of the Lincoln Project said: 'This is one more example that there is no adult in the room with Trump. There are no guardrails. There are no restraints. There are no wiser heads and quieter voices. It is all now what would you like, Mr President, and we shall deploy it.' He added: 'It's a birthday present for Donald Trump at a time when we're told we have to cut rural hospitals and cut Medicare and Medicaid. It certainly plays to his ego and his character and I don't think we should have expected anything less than this. This is what he was going to get because there are no restraints on Trump's behaviour by his own staff and his own team.'
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tanks, flypasts, missiles: what to expect at Trump's ‘dictator chic' military parade
It will be a parade fit for a king – which is precisely why critics worry what message it will send the rest of the world about the future of democracy in America. On Saturday there will be tanks on the streets of the nation's capital as Washington hosts a celebration of the US army's 250th anniversary, which happens to coincide with Donald Trump's 79th birthday. While the army has said it has no plans to recognize Trump's birthday, the president will play a major role in a made-for-TV extravaganza that will reportedly feature rocket launchers and missiles. The show of military might comes just a week after Trump activated thousands of national guard troops and marines to quell protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. Opponents draw a direct line from that crackdown to Saturday's authoritarian display of dominance. 'He's adopted not only the signifiers of dictator chic but the actual articles of its faith,' said Rick Wilson, a political strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group. 'North Korea: military parades. China: military parades. Russia: military parades. 'These aren't parades to celebrate a victory and it's certainly not to celebrate the United States army's birthday. This is a parade to aggrandise Donald Trump's ego. No one who knows either Trump or his pattern of behavior would think for a minute this is anything else.' The army's 250th anniversary was originally conceived as a modest affair: a year ago it filed a permit request for an event on the National Mall featuring 300 people, a concert by the army band and the firing of four cannon. Trump's election, however, led to a radical change of plan. About 6,700 troops, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft will be in Washington for a grand celebration. The vehicles have been moved to the city on trains and bigger trucks, while the helicopters will fly in. There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday morning followed by a fitness competition and an army birthday festival on the National Mall, including equipment displays and military demonstrations. The day will culminate with a parade through the city. A total of 28 M1 Abrams tanks, each weighing more than 60 tons, as well as 28 tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 wheeled Stryker combat vehicles, four tracked M-109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers and other towed artillery will maneuver to the start of the parade route just off the National Mall. They will travel toward the White House, driving over thick metal plating to protect the streets at some points where the vehicles make a sharp turn. The parade will also feature 34 horses, two mules and one dog. The Axios news site reported that a system used to launch rockets in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria will also on be show, and there will be a static display of precision-guided missiles. A flypast will include Apache and Black Hawk helicopters along with Chinooks. Older aircraft like a second world war-era B-25 bomber and P-51 Mustang will also take part. The helicopters are flying at a time when sharing Washington airspace is still a sensitive issue after a January collision between an army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday: 'It's going to be a parade the likes of which I don't know if we've ever had a parade like that. It's going to be incredible. We have a lot of those army airplanes flying over the top and we have tanks all over the place. And we have thousands and thousands of soldiers going to bravely march down the streets.' It will be the kind of spectacle in which Trump is known to revel. He will preside over an enlistment and re-enlistment ceremony. The US army Golden Knights team will parachute in and present him with a flag. There will also be a fireworks display in the Washington night sky. Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, said: 'It speaks to something quite fundamental in Trump's overall outlook. In many ways he is a very visual person and he is obsessed with not only how he looks but how everybody else looks as well. The spectacle of a big parade appeals to him for its visuality, if I could coin a term.' Yet Trump is an unlikely warrior. He did not serve in Vietnam, instead receiving five deferments – four for university, one for the medical reason of bone spurs in his heels. He was the first person to be elected president with no prior political or military experience. He has been forced to deny a report that he disparaged dead soldiers as 'losers' and 'suckers'. Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, suggests that Trump is using the military as a prop. 'He doesn't particularly like the military,' Blumenthal said. 'He's wary of the military. He's engaging in retribution against the military. He's fired much of the upper level of the flag officers because he doesn't trust them. 'He said he wants generals like Hitler's generals. He said he wanted to execute Mark Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He fired General CQ Brown, the last chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, because he made a single remark involving racial dignity. He has no use for the military except as decoration of his own grandiosity.' Critics say the display of pomp and pageantry is wasteful, especially as Trump slashes costs throughout the federal government, and represents an effort to link his projection of power with military authority. Public opposition will be expressed in more than 2,000 protest events all over the country under the rubric 'No Kings'. Organisers say they will not be hosting an event in Washington because they do not want the birthday parade to be the centre of gravity. Instead a major flagship march and rally will be held in Philadelphia, the cradle of US democracy. Even so, thousands of agents, officers and specialists from law enforcement agencies from across the country will descend on Washington. Security preparations include Secret Service drones, 18.5 miles of anti-scale fencing, 17 miles of concrete barriers, 175 magnetometers and officers from federal, state and local agencies standing guard. Officials said the Secret Service was tracking nine possible demonstrations in Washington and was ready to respond if they turn violent. Matt McCool, US Secret Service special agent in charge, told a press briefing on Monday: 'That will be handled swiftly.' The army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend and that putting on the celebration will cost an estimated $25m to $45m. That includes the parade itself as well as the cost of moving equipment and housing and feeding the troops. It excludes costs the city of Washington will have to bear, such as trash cleanup, although the army has said it will pay for any unexpected repairs. Democrats argue that Trump is taking over the army's birthday for himself. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, told the Reuters news agency: 'This is Trump. This is all about his ego and making everything 'him', which is, I think, a discredit to the military, the army.' Military parades in the US are generally rare, although Presidents Harry Truman and John F Kennedy's inaugurations featured displays of equipment. In 1991 tanks and thousands of troops, led by Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait in the Gulf war. Trump has made no secret of his desire to hold military parades. During his first administration, he ordered the Pentagon to look into a display of military might after a 2017 trip to France where he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, reviewed that country's defense forces marching down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Trump subsequently told reporters: 'It was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen. It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.' He previewed: 'We're going to have to try to top it.' But the Pentagon had other ideas. Jim Mattis, Trump's first defence secretary, compared the idea to Soviet Union-like displays of authoritarian power and privately remarked, 'I'd rather swallow acid,' according to Holding the Line, a 2019 book by Guy Snodgrass, a retired navy pilot and former Mattis aide. Trump ultimately settled for a display of tanks and other armoured vehicles during an independence day celebration in Washington on 4 July 2019. Nearly six years later, however, Trump will get his way now that the likes of Mattis have been succeeded by devout loyalists such as the current defence secretary, Pete Hegseth. Wilson of the Lincoln Project said: 'This is one more example that there is no adult in the room with Trump. There are no guardrails. There are no restraints. There are no wiser heads and quieter voices. It is all now what would you like, Mr President, and we shall deploy it.' He added: 'It's a birthday present for Donald Trump at a time when we're told we have to cut rural hospitals and cut Medicare and Medicaid. It certainly plays to his ego and his character and I don't think we should have expected anything less than this. This is what he was going to get because there are no restraints on Trump's behaviour by his own staff and his own team.'
Irish Daily Star
10-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Star
Fresh health fears sparked as Donald Trump's 'hidden leg brace' spotted
Images of Donald Trump looking over a construction project at the White House Rose Garden have sparked fresh speculation about his health as internet sleuths claim to have spotted something unusual New images of Donald Trump have sparked fresh speculation about the president's health as he's accused of wearing a hidden leg brace. After returning to the White House from Camp David, Maryland, on Monday, Trump headed out to the Rose Garden to look over a construction project currently taking place. The president was photographed speaking with construction workers while standing on a wooden board that had been placed on the lawn. Internet sleuths were quick to zoom in on the image and point out an unusual shape in his trouser leg as theories quickly spread online. "What's going on here?," one X account wrote as it shared four images of Trump's legs. There is another alarming theory for the mystery bulge on Trump's leg which is causing major fears. If you can't see the picture below, click here "Leg braces," one user responded. "Maybe to prevent the leaning," the original poster wrote back. Others agreed. One wrote: "Looks like he has medical knee braces on both of his legs!!!!!" A second commented: "Looks like he has some kind of brace on & his pants legs gathered around it." A third added: "He's wearing AFOs. Ankle Foot Orthotics. For foot drop. I wear one because of nerve damage to my spine. That's exactly what my pant leg looks like." Others speculated that he may have even been waring a catheter. "Foley catheter. Urinary incontinence is a symptom of late stage Prefrontal Temporal Dementia," one wrote. "He is wearing an urine bag or something,you can see the catheter under his pants," another claimed. But others dismissed the theories, claiming there was a much simpler explanation. "Wrinkles in his pants? Drrrr," one said. Another agreed, writing: "Wrinkles in the suite? Who tf cares?" The president was given a clean bill of health by his doctor, Captain Sean Barbabella, earlier this year. Some people also believe the strange, snaky lump just below his left knee could be a catheter. The White House physician said he was in 'excellent cognitive and physical health' in April. As part of a nearly five-hour medical examination at the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, Trump received several blood tests, a cardiac examination and ultrasounds, his doctor said. He also underwent neurological tests on his mental status, nerves, motor and sensory function and reflexes and completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). He scored 30 out of 30, Dr Barbabella said. "I got the highest mark," Trump boasted. He said the exam showed a "good heart, a good soul, very good soul." Despite this, a political strategist for the Republican party has warned that Trump may not last four years as he claims the controversial leader could be showing signs of cognitive decline. Rick Wilson, who also co-founded the Lincoln Project, has warned that some experts are suggesting Trump may be in the early stages of dementia. Speaking to Times Radio, Rick claimed that Trump's decline was noticeable not just when compared to 2015, but to 2024 and his run for a second presidential term. He said: 'He is incoherent. His inability to articulate any thought or position without constant asides, constant lapses, the verbal aphasias he is experiencing at various points. 'As a very close observer of Trump since 2015, I can tell you the man you're watching today is not the Trump of 2015, nor is he the Trump of 2020, he's not even the Trump of 2024." He continued: 'There is a decline in Trump's ability to communicate, there is a decline in Trump's ability to articulate his thoughts. This is not uncommon when people get older.'
