Trump, 79, Sparks Dementia Concerns With Weird Cold War Comment
The president’s brain seems to be stuck in the 1980s.

Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
There is no Russian city called Leningrad anymore, but apparently no one bothered to tell Donald Trump.
The 79-year-old president had yet another senior citizen moment as part of a Truth Social diatribe Tuesday morning, triggering a wave of concern about his cognitive faculties.
“If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal!” Trump wrote in a post in which he complained about the media’s coverage of his upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin (L) and Trump shake hands during a meeting at the 2019 G20 summit. Trump referred to the Russian city of Leningrad on Wednesday — 34 years after its renaming to St. Petersburg.
Anadolu/Getty Images
Critics were quick to point out that Leningrad’s name was changed in 1991, when the city’s residents voted via referendum to bring back its historic name of St. Petersburg.
Many saw the moment as a sign that Trump is possibly suffering from dementia.
Dementia? pic.twitter.com/8sOMP9hwNh
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) August 13, 2025
Others remembered that around the time of Leningrad’s renaming, Trump was desperate to extend his real-estate empire to Russia.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
In 1987, Trump and his wife Ivana traveled to Moscow to tour construction sites for a potential Trump Hotel in the Russian capital. They also spent time in Leningrad, four years before its renaming.
Trump in Leningrad, circa 1987.
— ITDUDE Fella (@The_Real_ITDUDE) August 13, 2025
His head is still there, circa 2025 pic.twitter.com/MBVyGljHbP
“Trump mentioning Leningrad is wild, considering the city hasn’t existed since 1991,” wrote one user. “He’s long gone at this point.”
Trump mentioning Leningrad is wild, considering the city hasn’t existed since 1991.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) August 13, 2025
He’s long gone at this point. pic.twitter.com/SYisBYdesj
Those plans fizzled, but Trump continued to court developers in Russia and even allowed the Miss Universe pageant to be held in Moscow in 2013.
To be clear, Trump means getting a free Trump hotel in Moscow and St.Petersburg (formerly Leningrad)
— Michael McDonald (@electproject.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:38 AM
[image or embed]
The Truth Social gaffe comes two days before Trump is set to meet with Putin in Alaska to discuss Ukraine’s future, at a summit where he will certainly need to muster all of his cognitive strength.
On Wednesday, author Michael Wolff recounted on The Daily Beast’s “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast that after Trump met one-on-one with Vladimir Putin in 2018, he emerged looking “like a beaten dog.”
Trump has seemed to lose the plot several times in the last few weeks.
In July, he criticized Joe Biden for appointing Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, forgetting he picked Powell himself in 2017.
The day before that incident, he confabulated a story about how his uncle, an MIT professor, had taught Ted Kaczynski before he was the “Unabomber.” Kaczynski never attended MIT.
On Monday, he left press secretary Karoline Leavitt to clean up his mess after claiming twice that he would be traveling to Russia on Friday—instead of Alaska, where the summit with Putin is actually being held.
A White House spokesperson wrote the following statement, in part: “Joe Biden started this brutal war, and President Trump is trying to stop the killing.”
The war started when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The invasion came days after President Biden warned that Putin was preparing to attack, and threatened to impose economic sanctions.
“Perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to Russia,” Leavitt said on Monday after Trump’s last Russia gaffe.
Whether those travel plans will include a stop in historic Leningrad is currently unclear.
Unlock a year of full access to The Looker and The Daily Beast for $35.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Looker and The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in
Login dialog


