Donald Trump forced to address 'raspy voice' as health fears grow

Donald Trump has been forced to defend having a hoarse voice and an MRI (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump has been forced to address fears around his health after his "raspy voice" was overheard at a conference. During an Oval Office meeting discussing the USA’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Trump sounded hoarse when speaking with officials and reporters.

It probed one person present to ask: “Your voice sounds rough, are you feeling alright?” In response, Trump said: “I was shouting at people because they were stupid about something having to do with trade in a country.” The reporter then suggested the comment "sounds like a follow up", which Trump misheard. "What? I thought said there was a polyp - I don't want to hear that," he joked.

Concerns have been swirling around the 79-year-old leader since he re-entered the Oval Office at the start of this year. Addressing a recent MRI scan live on Fox News on Air Force One when he was asked what it was for, Trump replied: “Because it was part of my physical. Getting an MRI is very standard. What, you think I shouldn’t have it? I had an MRI. The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor. That’s it.

Donald Trump (Image: Getty)

“But I had an MRI as part of my standard yearly, or I think they do it every two years but I have the physical every year. And the result was outstanding.”

When pressed whether it was has brain or heart, Trump claimed to have had no idea. He explained: “I have no idea what they analysed. But whatever they analysed, they analysed it well and they said that I had as good a result as they’d ever seen.”

His press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump was “assessed by radiologist and consultants” at Walter Reed Medical Centre who confirmed he was in “exceptional physical health”.

Despite this, health professionals have voiced concern about Trump’s physical and psychological condition. In August John Gartner, formerly an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School claimed to have spotted signs of dementia in Trump’s behaviour based on comparisons from the 1980s.

He said: “What we see are the classic signs of dementia, which is gross deterioration from someone's baseline and function. If you go back and look at film from the 1980s, [Trump] actually was extremely articulate.

“He was still a jerk, but he was able to express himself in polished paragraphs, and now he really has trouble completing a thought and that is a huge deterioration.”

The White House has continued to state that Trump is in excellent health; at the start of this year, White House physician Dr Sean Barbadella said the controversial leader was in “excellent cognitive and physical health”.