President Donald Trump's doctors and the White House may try to present the president as being in peak health, but to many observers the visual evidence suggests otherwise. However loudly Trump has his staff proclaim his vitality, the president knows he has just marked a birthday — and not a small number, according to veteran Trump biographer Michael Wolff. Trump is already the oldest person ever elected to the US presidency, and if he completes a second term he would leave office at 82, a fact that has kept questions about presidential fitness and succession at the center of political coverage.

On the latest episode of his podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," Wolff and co-host Joanna Coles discussed what they described as the shadow of death creeping closer for Trump amid a recent spate of celebrity deaths.

"Well, [singer] Dolly Parton passed, as did [actor] Tim Curry. Also 80. What do they have in common with the president?" Coles asked Wolff.

"Eighty is a seriously mortal moment," said Wolff, a longtime journalist and author best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books about his first term — among them the 2018 bestseller "Fire and Fury" — based on purported insider sources. "You're in your 80s. This is your 9th decade."

"Do you think he felt a tiny bit more fragile after Dolly Parton died?" Coles pressed.

"I'm absolutely sure he did. When I see people who are my age who go down I register it. I think everybody does," Wolff answered, mindful of his own age. "And just to point out, everybody does, but in particular a 300lb man who stuffs himself with poison and who hasn't done a lick of exercise ever might have an even more immediate reaction to other people's mortality at his age."

Separately, one clinical psychologist has argued that Trump appears to be showing a notable decline in his neurological condition, citing as evidence a "strange and unusual" tic that he cannot seem to control, among other seeming symptoms. Dr. John Paul Garrison, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in body language, identified a distinct spasm on one side that he said could possibly be indicative of a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's or Lewy body dementia. It is worth noting that Garrison's assessment is based on public appearances rather than an in-person examination, and professional bodies such as the American Psychiatric Association have long cautioned against diagnosing public figures at a distance under the so-called "Goldwater rule."

Other reporters and experts have pointed to Trump's bruising, his swelling, and what they describe as the disturbing secrecy the White House maintains around his health. Trump's fitness for office has been the subject of significant discussion over the past year, driven in part by his frequent, secretive hospital visits. The debate echoes earlier episodes in presidential history — most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt's concealed health decline and John F. Kennedy's undisclosed conditions — when the gap between official health disclosures and reality later became a matter of public record.

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman — co-author of a book that exposed behind-the-scenes details of the Trump administration — has offered a blunt assessment of Trump's physical and mental state. After detailing a series of concerns about Trump's fitness, she argued that his allies are "not transparent about his health." What remains to be seen is whether the White House responds to these mounting questions with fuller medical disclosure, as some predecessors eventually did, or continues its current posture.