Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who served as Dick Cheney’s cardiologist during the Bush administration and now works as a CNN medical analyst, has been speaking about Trump’s cognitive state for months. His latest proposal takes a more formal approach.
“I don’t think any cabinet, Republican or Democrat, would ever remove a president who is not obviously severely medically incapacitated,” he wrote.
“This is why Congress should pass a bill that establishes a bipartisan and expert panel that periodically assesses presidential physical and mental fitness for office. The VP would have to concur with the panel before the president could be involuntarily removed from office.”
I don’t think any cabinet, Republican or Democrat, would ever remove a president who is not obviously severely medically incapacitated. This is why Congress should pass a bill (it would likely have to be veto proof) that establishes a bipartisan and expert panel that periodically… https://t.co/f11MjCojsY
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) April 17, 2026
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The proposal lands in a particular context.
Reiner has repeatedly pointed to Trump’s behavior, including a moment during an Iran war briefing where discussion reportedly drifted into gold curtains for a ballroom project. He later posted, “It’s very odd to talk about this topic at this time.”
Reiner has also questioned why Trump needs to keep taking cognitive tests at all, given that Trump’s own physician cited his “frequent victories in golf events” as evidence of his active lifestyle in a formal medical assessment.
Passing a test designed to detect early Alzheimer’s is not generally considered a brag-worthy achievement.
Legal analyst Michael Popok added his own assessment this week, pointing to a recent Fox Business interview as evidence of something more concerning. Trump told Maria Bartiromo: “Look what happens to Justice Ginsburg, she was not exactly a young woman. You had a Democrat with the liberal justice, and the liberals to stick together they stick together like glue – not like the Republicans. She decided she would live forever and two minutes after the election she went out, and I got to appoint somebody.”
Popok had a clear take. “The fact that he can’t even get dates and names right is troubling. A sign of, let’s be frank, mental decline. It wasn’t like he shouldn’t have been able to remember exactly when she died. He gave what is considered to be one of the most famous, viral clips, when he was coming off an airplane the day she died… you think he’d remember it.”
The broader conversation around presidential fitness has been accelerating.
Rep. Jamie Raskin has briefed House Democrats on possible routes including the 25th Amendment, noting that “at a time when our country is at war, especially when the war was initiated by the President without congressional declaration or consent, the American people must be able to trust that the Commander-in-Chief has the mental capacity to discharge” his duties.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
