President Donald Trump is often caught on video dozing during meetings, but one widely cited medical expert argues it’s not merely because he’s tired. According to psychologist John Garrison, these “microsleeps” are yet another sign of Trump’s “significant neurological decline.”
Garrison was reacting to footage during an Oval Office meeting with Susan Dell of Dell computers, during which Trump appeared to doze off. “I believe what’s happening are microsleeps,” explains Garrison. “And this is a little bit different than just sleeping at his desk. Microsleeps can be very quick. You can go from wakefulness to sleep back to awake and alert very quickly with microsleeps.” In the video, a dozing Trump suddenly opens his eyes with a look of alarm, prompting Garrison to suggest, “There’s a little bit of confusion, and he may not even know that he’s falling asleep.” Noting that Trump transitions quickly between wakefulness and sleep, Garrison elaborates, “The systems that regulate arousal with wakefulness and sleep can be affected by neurological disorders.” The culprits, warns Garrison, could be “dementia” or “some sort of brain injury.”
He also points to what may be “neurological” issues causing Trump’s difficulty with paying attention. As Garrison notes, as soon as Trump stops focusing on Dell and what is being discussed, “he seems to fall asleep almost immediately. We’ve seen this meeting after meeting after meeting.” According to Garrison, while there are a variety of reasons attention can fluctuate, based on Trump’s history, yet again, “dementia” or “brain injury” could be the culprit. The president’s “mild coordination issues” and “challenges in social cues,” says Garrison, bolster such a diagnosis. “As soon as anybody starts talking,” explains Garrison, “he’s unable to sustain attention. And attention is more than just looking at somebody’s face. It’s a complex process, and we see for people that have neurological challenges or neurodegenerative diseases that attention becomes very, very difficult.” As the video continues, Trump’s slurred language supports this assessment.
Here Garrison shifts to a video of Trump at a rally with retired baseball player Roger Clements, noting that the president displays a number of issues that have persisted for months but have begun to “progress” and “get worse.” As Garrison points out, “First, you’re going to see his right arm spasm at the elbow, which appears to be a myoclonic jerk. These are involuntary and can be neurological in origin. And then you’re going to see it spread to his left arm, which has a very different motion. His left hand remains limp while his left arm seems to spasm as well.” From there, Trump appears to have difficulty controlling the motion of his left hand, “and after that,” notes Garrison, “we see a brief spasm from his trunk, which makes sense because these share pathways.”
For months, says Garrison, Trump has displayed these “glitches” and other symptoms, and they appear to be getting “worse.” In Garrison’s estimation, the conclusion is clear: the president’s “neurological challenges” keep stacking up.