President Donald Trump questions whether California Governor Gavin Newsom shouldn’t be President because he admitted to a learning disability called DYSLEXIA.
The argument that the presidency requires intense reading and that dyslexia can make tasks like processing long documents or reading teleprompters challenging.
Written by Maria Diana Grasmick, US-based Freelance writer
“I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency.” DJT
Dyslexia is not just trouble reading words. It is the difference between how the brain processes information correctly. There is no ability to break words into sounds to blend them and retrieve them quickly. Holding information in the mind long enough to use it can be difficult.
Gavin Newsom may be able to recite and memorize long speeches after many hours and trials, in a mirror in repeated practice. But for spur of the moment rapid fire interviews, this may be too much. There may be no time to rehearse. Or even mentally organize the language.
To be a President, he will be in daily intelligence briefings. Will someone be hired just to read the notes? Who will write his legal memos and read them to him? What about national security documents or policy drafts? The stakes are very high, interruptions may occur and there may be multiple threads of information that may collide when he speaks to the press, world and public.
“I think the president should not have learning disabilities, OK?” DJT
Gavin Newsom is seen as a potential 2028 Democratic Candidate. Trump’s criticism is seen as a fit for office argument.
“It’s spelling, writing and just deep struggles reading.” GN
Newsom has publicly stated he has had Dyslexia since childhood. He wrote about it in his memoirs and in many interviews. He admits it.
Dyslexia can create the appearance of reduced agency in a presidency. It would look like he is managed overly or guided by someone else. He would look like he has less control, no independence or decision making power. Will he be able to act on his own judgment and speak for himself? What about the ability to direct others rather than be directed himself. Will he have to wear an earpiece and be told what to say? What if a world leader shows him a graph with letters jumbled everywhere, how will he respond? Will everything have to be scripted for him? Who will guide him?
President Trump said these remarks on March 16, 2026.
“Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities but not for my president.” DJT
This was following the CA Governor’s public discussion while promoting his memoir, “ Young Man in a hurry” released at the end of February 2026.
“My dyslexia, I haven’t overcome dyslexia, I’m living with it.” GN
A President may have MINUTES to review intelligence and decide whether to respond to a nuclear launch. What about technical military language? Or really short timelines.. Or a gotcha question. It could be 3 am and there is a terrorist attack. He has to read summaries. Is he going to just watch it on CNN? Law enforcement or military action. Will he be followed around with a transcriptionist? No, there must be CLEAR comprehension of written material. That is essential to the office.
Treaty negotiations with foreign leaders handing him three hundred pages of dense legal information. And do not forget the footnotes!
What if the person reading it to him omits some things or adds others? What if the staff reshape the message and his decisions are being filtered? It gives the appearance he is being handled. He will have to rely on verbal summaries from others. Advisors would be steering him. Imagine that power?
Trump has subtle diplomatic wording. One wrong inference like consider vs agreed changes everything. Leverage also can be had with other countries over this. A rival may claim he misunderstood, and mock him.
“I was a guy in the back of the classroom… praying the teacher didn’t call on me.” GN
In the rivalry between the two candidates for 2028, President Donald Trump isn’t running against a person but an image. A weak opponent may make it look lopsided, predictable or even unfair. You need strong opponents to show off your talent and skill. It is a stage. Trump’s abilities do not exist in a vacuum, they are revealed in CONTRAST standing opposite. A stronger candidate will force the President to rise. For it has to be earned. He can win against someone serious. And his skills hold up against real competition. It has to be, like in video games, a “boss battle”. Opponents act like mirrors. This energizes supporters and draws the media. The debates are like arenas, and the stronger the opponents, the more impressive the performance.
The debate IS, who is fit to hold the highest office in the United States. When people argue about fitness for the presidency, it really is about capacity. The ability to shoulder a job demanding constant judgment and rapid information and to communicate clearly under pressure. It is a role unlike any other. So many things in a single human being. It is not about Gavin Newsom wanting the job, but the question is, can he carry it? It is a pressure chamber. Who has the grounded mind? Calm center? Inner discipline that can lead through uncertainty?
That is who voters are looking to. Presidents need mental stability.
