Trump’s verbal tics at Camp David ‘very likely’ a signal of ‘brain decline’: expert

President Donald Trump’s habit of insisting things are happening “like nobody’s ever seen before” is more than just a verbal tic. It’s become a symptom of his deteriorating brain, according to a speech-language pathologist whose video breakdowns of the president have gained attention.

Hilary Shae, a licensed speech-language pathologist who specializes in concussion recovery, zeroed in Wednesday on Trump’s Camp David Cabinet meeting last week, counting a stack of near-identical catchphrases in the first 15 minutes alone. She flagged phrases such as “nobody’s ever seen,” “more than anyone’s ever seen before,” and “treated like nobody else.”

Doing that many while reading from prepared notes, she said, was “pretty significant.”

“It is very likely that Donald Trump is suffering from some form of dementia and brain decline,” Shae said in the video, arguing the repetitions signal his brain is “relying on language that has become highly automatic while it loses the ability to generate new and flexible language.”

She framed the phrases as possible “perseveration,” a neurological symptom in which someone repeats a word or idea when it isn’t appropriate, suggesting impaired frontal lobe inhibition. She contrasted it with Trump’s old catchphrase days, like “that’s hot,” which she said had nothing to do with cognitive decline. The difference now, she argued, is that the repetition is “persistent” and “context independent.”

Shae has flagged what she calls signs of neurological decline in Trump’s speech, pointing to slurred multisyllabic words, and more recently told a podcast she sees a worsening pattern of physical “twitches and glitches.”

Other clinicians, including psychotherapist John Gartner, have also publicly argued Trump shows signs of advancing dementia.

The White House has insisted Trump is mentally sharp as ever, and the president has routinely boasted he has “aced” cognitive exams.