Robert Fico, Slovakia’s PM, said to have expressed fears US President ‘out of his mind’ after visit

US President Donald Trump dances after delivering a speech in front of US Navy personnel at Yokosuka, Japan, last October. Photo / Philip Fong / AFP

Slovakia’s Prime Minister privately told European leaders he was worried about United States President Donald Trump’s “psychological state”, according to diplomats.

Robert Fico, an ally of the US President, told counterparts at an emergency European Union summit that his face-to-face meeting with the US President had been “shocking”.

Fico – one of the few EU leaders to support Trump’s stance on Europe’s weakness – said the President came across as “dangerous” during their meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on January 17, two diplomats told Politico.

One said the Slovakian Prime Minister went further, characterising Trump as “out of his mind”, while another said he seemed “traumatised” by his encounter with the US President.

The remarks were made by Fico during an informal huddle between a small group of EU leaders and senior officials on the sidelines of the summit last week.

The summit had been convened amid renewed tensions in transatlantic relations following Trump’s threats to seize Greenland.

None of the diplomats who spoke to Politico were present at the discussion, but all said they had been briefed shortly afterwards by leaders who took part.

Today, AFP reported that the White House and Fico on Wednesday both denied the Politico report.

“This is absolutely total fake news from anonymous European diplomats who are trying to be relevant. The meeting at Mar-a-Lago was positive and productive,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.

“I strongly reject the lies of the hateful, pro-Brussels liberal portal Politico,” Fico said on X.

Fico said that he “did not speak informally with any prime minister or president about my visit to the US” and rejected Politico’s report about “how I assessed my meeting” with Trump.

“No one heard anything, no one saw anything, there are no witnesses, but nothing prevented the Politico portal from coming up with lies,” he said.

Earlier this month, Trump threatened tariffs on several European countries and refused to rule out using force to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, before later softening his stance.

Even without Fico’s comments, concern about the US President’s “unpredictability” is growing among Europe’s leaders and senior officials, according to one of the diplomats, who was not briefed directly by a leader on last week’s conversation.

Fears about the 79-year-old US President’s health are “rapidly becoming a more conversed topic at all levels”, said one EU official involved in cross-capital discussions.

Trump, who has repeatedly bristled at any questions about his health and age, has only recently allowed his hair to turn white.

In an article published by New York Magazine on Tuesday, a senior staffer said the US President’s decision to let the yellowy-brown dye grow out amounted to his “only concession to age”.

Rumours about Trump’s health have been rife since the White House revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common to older adults that occurs when veins have trouble moving blood back to the heart.

Around that time, Trump was also seen with bruising on his hands, which his physician attributed to the US President’s frequent handshaking as well as to the use of aspirin, of which he has taken a high daily dose for more than two decades.

Last week, Trump waved away questions about a dark-coloured bruise spotted on his left hand at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying he had only “clipped it on the table”, and claiming the mark was also a side-effect of taking aspirin.

He told reporters: “The doctor said: ‘You don’t have to take that, sir. You’re very healthy.’ I said: ‘I’m not taking any chances.’”

Trump has insisted he is in “perfect” health despite a flurry of theories swirling online, fuelled by further sightings of swelling in his limbs, including his ankles.

He had a CT scan last year to “rule out any cardiovascular issues”, his doctor said.

- additional reporting AFP

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