Donald Trump's Unhealthy Habits Reportedly Have Staffers More Worried Than Ever About His Longevity

Candy. Diet soda. Fast food. It sounds like the unhealthy eating habits of a teenager, but it's the everyday menu of United States President Donald J. Trump. And all of those sugary, fatty, and processed ingredients have White House staffers worried about his long-term health.

Indeed, the topic of Trump's food choices and health comes up repeatedly among those closest to him. On the Katie Miller Podcast in early 2026, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., told Miller that he didn't know how Trump stayed alive, given his "unhinged" diet. It wasn't the first time Kennedy outed Trump for following a questionable diet, either. In 2024, Kennedy described Trump's preferred food items as "poison" (via The New York Times).

But could steadily fueling up on sweets, Big Macs, and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches (the latter two being part of Trump's daily diet rotation) legitimately shorten someone's life? Yes, according to a 2024 study from the National Cancer Institute that showed an association between eating ultraprocessed items and a 10% to 15% lifespan reduction (via CNN). 

Beyond eating foods with limited nutritional value, Trump exhibits another behavior that has been associated with a decreased lifespan. Specifically, he sleeps far less than the recommended seven or more hours for an adult male in his 70s. But as Trump told a New York Magazine reporter in 2026, "I think five hours is plenty."

Notwithstanding Trump's somewhat dismissive comment about worries regarding how little he sleeps at night, science says it's not a great idea for longevity. A 2021 study in the Journal of Sleep Research showed links between consistent sleep disturbances and both dying early and dementia. Another 2021 study in Nature similarly found that older adults who didn't get enough sleep increased their chance of being diagnosed with dementia — a potentially fatal disease — by 30%.

A final concern about Trump's ability to live as long as his father, who died at 93 (and had Alzheimer's, the most common type of dementia), is his aversion to exercise. Although he golfs regularly — an activity that burns calories, even if you use a cart like Trump does — he doesn't prioritize movement otherwise. As he explained to the Wall Street Journal, he felt that walking on a treadmill was "boring." Generally speaking, doctors suggest that older individuals remain active to ward off age-related illnesses and reduce their risk of dying too soon.

Although people around him may be clucking about Trump's questionable eating, sleeping, and fitness habits, whether or not they are actually hurting him isn't clear. After all, the medical report released in April 2025 by the White House noted that physician to the president Dr. Sean Barbabella deemed Trump in "excellent" health.