Journalist Says Trump Suffered "Severe Memory Problems" During Extensive Interviews

A journalist who spent hours interviewing Donald Trump for an upcoming book about "The Apprentice" said there were times when the ex-president couldn't remember him — even though they'd already met.

In multiple TV hits promoting his forthcoming book "Apprentice in Wonderland," Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh told fellow reporters that Trump seemed to have some cognitive issues during his time with the former president.

Speaking to MSNBC's "Morning Joe," which is hosted by former Trump friend Joe Scarborough, Setoodeh  said that his time getting to know the former "Apprentice" host post-presidency makes his comments about President Joe Biden's own alleged cognitive issues all the more ironic.

"Trump had severe memory issues," the Variety editor said. "As the journalist who spent the most time with him, I have to say, he couldn't remember things, he couldn't even remember me."

Recalling that the second of six times he met Trump in 2021, Setoodeh said that although they'd spoken for an hour just a few months prior to their second meeting, the former president admitted that he didn't recognize him.

"He had a vacant look on his face, and I said, 'Do you remember me?'" the reporter recounted. "And he said 'no' — he had no recollection of our lengthy interview that we had, and he wasn't doing a lot of interviews at that time."

In another interview, this time with CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Setoodeh affirmed the impressions from a recent CNBC report about CEOs who were "not impressed" by Trump's "meandering" train of thought.

"He goes from one story to the next," the reporter said. "He struggles with the chronology of events. He seems very upset that he wasn't respected by certain celebrities in the White House."

Setoodeh added that although it was never exactly easy to interview Trump, the situation seems to have gotten worse after he left the White House and relaunched his rematch with Biden.

"There were some cognitive questions about where he was and what he was thinking," the biographer said, "and he would, from time to time, become confused."

Far be it from us to offer unschooled armchair diagnoses about the mental states of people we only know via celebrity, but Setoodeh's remarks don't inspire confidence. Then again, neither are those about the person currently occupying the Oval Office, either.

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