A new YouGov poll on Donald Trump’s health and age finds that about half of Americans believe the 79-year-old is too old to be president, while 36% say he isn’t. The poll also found that about half of Americans think Trump is suffering cognitive decline and about three-quarters think there should be a maximum age limit for the presidency.
Half (49%) of Americans say Trump is too old to be president. Fewer (36%) say he is not too old to be president. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say Trump is too old to be president (82% vs. 18%).
Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say Trump is too old to be president (60% vs. 46%).
In December 2025, 44% of Americans said Trump was too old to be president and 44% said he was not. In September 2025, 49% said he was too old and 39% said he was not.
In December 2025, fewer Republicans said Trump was too old to be president (9% then vs. 18% now).
48% of Americans think Trump has not provided enough information about his physical health; 31% think he has.
About one-quarter (27%) of Americans think Trump’s current overall health is poor, more than say it is very good (14%) or excellent (8%).
About half (49%) of Americans believe Trump is suffering some level of cognitive decline, including 28% who believe he’s suffering significant cognitive decline. The vast majority (85%) of Democrats and 14% of Republicans believe Trump is suffering cognitive decline.
Most Americans (58%) believe Trump is suffering significant (25%) or modest (33%) physical decline. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say they believe Trump is suffering some level of physical decline (87% vs. 34%).
In September 2025, similar shares of Americans believed Trump was suffering modest or significant cognitive (49%) and physical (59%) decline.
36% of Americans believe Trump’s health and age are severely limiting his ability to fulfill his duties as president. Half (50%) say these factors have little effect (25%) or no effect (25%) on his ability to do his job. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to believe Trump’s age and health are severely limiting his ability to do his job (68% vs. 8%).
Far more Americans think Joe Biden’s health and age severely limited his ability to fulfill his duties as president when he was in office than say so about Trump now (66% vs. 36%). Biden was 78 years old when he was sworn in and 82 when he left the White House. 48% of Democrats and 88% of Republicans say Biden’s ability to lead the country was severely limited by his health and age.
44% of Americans — including 81% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans — believe there has been a cover-up of the current state of Trump’s health.
Far more Americans believe that there was a cover-up of the state of Joe Biden’s health when he was president than say so about Trump's health now (66% vs. 44%). 44% of Democrats and 90% of Republicans think there was a cover-up of the state of Biden’s health.
39% of Americans — including 62% of Democrats and 22% of Republicans — think Trump will attempt to serve a third term as president. Far fewer Americans (12%) say they think he should attempt to serve a third term. Majorities of Democrats (95%) and Republicans (60%) think he should not attempt to serve a third term.
In December, about as many Americans said they think Trump will attempt a third term (41%) and that he should attempt it (14%).
About politicians and age beyond Trump and Biden, 45% of Americans think old age hurts elected officials by making it more difficult to do the work their positions require. About one-third (35%) say old age either has no impact on how well an elected official does their job (20%) or that it helps them have the experience or wisdom to do a good job (15%).
Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say old age hurts elected officials by making it more difficult to do the work their positions require (64% vs. 26%). Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to hold this view (60% vs. 41%).
Majorities of Americans say there should be a maximum age for someone in the U.S. to serve as president (73%), as a senator (69%), and as a member of Congress (69%).
What do Americans who support those age limits think the maximum ages should be? 33% say the maximum age for president should be between 60 and 70 years old, 28% think it should be between 70 and 75, and 27% think it should be 75 or older. Opinions about where to set the maximum age limits are similar for supporters of limits for senators and members of Congress.
Related:
- Few Americans want Donald Trump to attempt to serve a third term
- Concerns about Trump's age and health have grown since the start of his second term
- Americans’ concern about Biden’s age is high, but unchanged after special counsel report
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on January 7 - 10, 2026 among 1,134 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
Image: Getty (Joe Raedle)
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