A dinner President Donald Trump apparently attended nearly a decade ago sparked fears at the time that the president may have already been exhibiting symptoms of the memory-loss disease dementia, according to a newly unearthed email from Jeffrey Epstein.
In an email to author Michael Wolff dated Dec. 29, 2017, Epstein wrote that some attendees at the supposed dinner were startled by Trump, who was wearing “tons of makeup” and unable to recognize “old friends.”
“some at dinner wtih donald last night , were concerned about dementia,” Epstein wrote to Wolff. “tons of makeup. did not recognize old friends.”
According to former White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Trump did attend a dinner on Dec. 28, 2018 in Palm Beach, Florida at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which would match the date in Epstein’s email. The only reported guest at the dinner was Wilbur Ross, Trump’s former secretary of commerce, though other guests may have been in attendance.
Speculation has swirled about the state of Trump’s mental health in recent years, particularly after he sent a “deranged” letter last month that critics described as evidence of a “serious mental breakdown.” Trump’s increased instances of rambling during speeches and unexplained MRI scan have also fueled speculation as to the state of his mental health.
The White House has repeatedly hit back on claims that Trump’s mental health is deteriorating, and has insisted that the president “remains in excellent overall health.”
Trump’s father, Fred Trump, had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia – since the early 1990s and until his death in 1999. Trump spoke about his father’s condition recently with New York Magazine, during which he had an “unfortunately timed” memory lapse when struggling to remember the name of his father’s condition.