As the New Year approaches, a group of Peruvian shamans has gathered in the capital city of Lima for an annual prediction event — and according to The Daily Beast, they are urging the United States to brace itself for President Donald Trump's health to decline in 2026.
“The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” said Juan de Dios Garcia, as "shamans gathered on a beach in colorful traditional Andean ponchos, carrying posters of world leaders, including one of Trump," per the report.
The shaman prophecies are not anything scientific and don't carry real predictive power, although at least some of what they have guessed in previous years has come true, the report noted.
"While a 2024 prophecy that 'a nuclear war' would occur between Israel and Gaza did not come true — instead, a ceasefire was put in place — the shamans correctly predicted in 2023 that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori would perish within 12 months. Fujimori, who had been imprisoned for human rights abuses, died at the age of 86 in September of the following year."
The shamans' prediction this time may be based on awareness of recent news about the 79-year-old U.S. president's recent health scares and rumors.
A number of experts have expressed fear that Trump has been in mental decline for years, and there are signs of physical ailments as well, including bruising on the hands and swollen ankles. He has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that causes blood to pool in the legs due to poor circulation.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has denied any issues and insists the president is in "excellent" health. However, Trump himself seems to recognize he can't carry on forever, with some experts speculating that the jockeying of members of his administration to be his heir apparent, combined with Trump's intensifying focus on naming buildings and institutions after himself, are signals that Trump has grown more aware of his own mortality.