People

Trump turns 80, faces a foe he can’t defeat

The main Nuremberg trial ended, Winston Churchill warned of an iron curtain descending across Europe, It’s a Wonderful Life received its premiere and, at Jamaica hospital in the borough of Queens, New York, Donald John Trump was born.

It was 1946, also the birth year of George W Bush and Bill Clinton, but on Sunday the current US president celebrates his 80th birthday in a style uniquely his own. Trump will stage a night of cage fighting on the once-pristine White House south lawn as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

The blend of visceral bloodsport with political spectacle under metal scaffolding may offer brief respite for a president also consumed with an unpopular war, rising inflation, plunging poll numbers and a foe not even he can bully, bomb or outrun: Father Time.

“Donald Trump has been showing signs of his age for quite some time,” said Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “It’s on display almost daily as he struggles to stay awake during official meetings, he is more irritable and going on rage tangents and throwing temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. These are not signs of a well-adjusted adult approaching 80 years old.”

Trump is the oldest US president sworn into office and, some critics say, showing alarming evidence of decline as he becomes an octogenarian, a status that more than half his predecessors never achieved and that found Gerald Ford playing golf, Jimmy Carter immersed in humanitarian work and Ronald Reagan organising his memoirs.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in February found 61% of Americans thought Trump had become more erratic with age, and another survey in April showed a majority concerned about his temperament and mental sharpness.

The physical evidence is increasingly difficult for his aides to conceal, though they aggressively project a narrative of vigour. The president has been photographed with bruised hands and swollen ankles, ailments his medical staff continually brush off as a “slight” issue. He sees 22 medical specialists, an apparent new bar for presidents.

His public calendar has grown notably sparse, dominated by hours of nebulous “executive time” and behind-closed-doors policy meetings. After a flurry of travel early in the year, he has largely retreated to the cocoons of the White House and his clubs in Florida and New Jersey since launching the Iran war in February.

Then there is the sleeping. Trump has increasingly been caught on camera apparently nodding off at public events, most recently at an NBA basketball finals game at New York’s Madison Square Garden. When clips of his shut eyes go viral, his aides claim he was merely blinking or listening intently.

The White House spokesperson Davis Ingle has insisted that Trump remains “the sharpest and most accessible president in American history”. The president himself frequently boasts of “acing” cognitive tests that would have flummoxed past presidents.

But to observers the spin is not only unconvincing but counterproductive. Kurt Bardella, a political commentator and former congressional aide, said: “It’s not surprising that someone who’s on the doorstep of being octogenarian is showing signs of ageing. Father Time is undefeated: that applies to everybody including Donald Trump and I would have more confidence in him as commander-in chief if he would just admit that rather than try to hide it.”

Bardella added: “Hiding it is a sign of weakness. Being transparent, forthright, honest about it would actually be a sign a strength. The fact the White House seems to be going to all these ridiculous and laughable measures to try to convince us that he’s not actually ageing is insulting to American people, it’s idiotic, it reeks of desperation, and it makes everyone believe that there’s more going on than meets the eye. And what meets the eye isn’t that great. Secrecy breeds mistrust.”

If that complaint sounds familiar it is because Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, who was 78 when he took office in 2021, faced similar charges. White House officials were accused of covering up Biden’s failing capacities. Jill Biden, the former first lady, wrote in a new memoir that she feared her husband had had a stroke when he delivered a feeble debate performance that forced him to abandon his campaign for reelection.

Bill Whalen, a policy fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank in Stanford,

California, said: “It’s very difficult, if not a double standard, for every Democrat to criticise Donald Trump as too old and too out of touch, with Democrats having basically zipped their lips in 2024 and not dared say the same about Joe Biden. In this age of whataboutism it is another bad case of whataboutism.”

Trump’s critics, however, reject the comparison, contending that the concerns around him are greater by orders of magnitude.

Setmayer, who now runs the Seneca Project, a female-led political action committee, said: “There is a fair discussion to be had about a president’s physical and emotional condition, no matter what age they are. However, if Joe Biden was exhibiting the same level of cognitive incoherence and physical decline in public the way Donald Trump currently is, the apoplexy on the right would be palpable.”

Such commentators argue that Trump’s already volatile psyche is fraying as his stamina wanes. Even with the nation at war with Iran and citizens strained by the cost of living, he touts a $1.4bn White House ballroom, revamp of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and plans for a huge triumphal arch.

His speeches, which have long been rife with non sequiturs and long stories, increasingly ramble, repeat and take baffling tangents. He is prone to more scattergun statements that give Republican strategists heartburn, such as “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation”, “I don’t care about the midterms and “I love the inflation”. At dead of night he pushes election conspiracy theories and torrents of AI slop on social media.

Nowhere was this more evident than during an explosive confrontation last week with the journalist Kristen Welker on the NBC show Meet the Press. Factchecked on his false claims of election rigging, Trump flew off the handle and said Welker was either “crooked” or “stupid”, then abruptly ended the interview: “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you darling. Have a good time.”

Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, watched the broadcast with genuine alarm. “The man was out of control,” he said. “How he kept himself from having a heart attack or stroke, I don’t know. You saw his face. He’s orange at the best of times but he was oscillating between red and orange. I really did think he was going to have a heart attack.”

As for Trump’s penchant for napping, Sabato offers a silver lining of sorts. “You shouldn’t laugh but it’s the only time he looks peaceful,” he quipped. “It’s the only time his mouth is shut and he’s not saying something obnoxious, so I’m always grateful when he nods off.

“But what that proves to me is there’s nobody in his family or his staff that can control him in any way. There’s no way somebody his age should be staying up practically the whole night or intermittently waking up and sending out these crazy memes – dozens of them sometimes. It’s unbelievable.”

The prospect of such a man having access to the nuclear codes would typically prompt discussion of his cabinet invoking the 25th amendment to the constitution to remove him from office. No one expects Trump’s team of loyalists to even remotely consider such an option. Republicans in Congress have shown flickers of dissent lately but preserved a conspiracy of silence around the age issue.

Trump is therefore expected to remain in office for his 81st and 82nd birthdays, potentially as a lame duck president facing political mortality if Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress. For many people such age

brings wisdom, wistfulness and a softening of hard edges, but for Trump it seems only to exacerbate his character and make him more truly himself.

Gwenda Blair, a Trump biographer, said: “Any sign of grace? Perspective? Those have not emerged. Those are the kind of rewards of being older that many people experience but not him. Instead he’s doubling down on the exact same behaviour patterns that he has always had: what’s in it for me and how can I get the maximum out of it and then more than that?”

The questions over the judgment and temperament of the world’s most powerful man, and the potential risks to the global order, will only grow louder in the coming years, according to Larry Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.

“The recklessness of decisions, the failure to think in a logical evidence-based way, the acting on impulse, the losing track of reality versus the talking points – all these things are being accelerated by Trump’s age. Most presidents’ skill set begins to fade as they age; Trump has got such a limited toolkit that it’s putting him over the edge.”

Jacobs warned: “America and the world are in for a frightening two years. Trump has too much power for someone with so little connection to reality. Age is making Trump an even more dangerous president.”

David Smith– the Guardian

People

Christopher Lane noticed a ‘sketchy’ detail early in relationship with Wade Wilson

Months before he brutally murdered two women in one day, Wade Wilson began a brief romance with a man named Christopher Lane.

“This was my first relationship with a guy,” Lane said during season 2 of Netflix’s docuseries Worst Ex Ever, which premiered in May 2026. “We enjoyed being together. We did a lot of stuff together. We had fun.”

The two men dated for over a month, during which time Lane claimed that Wilson — who would later be known as the “Deadpool Killer” because of the name he shared with the Marvel character — physically assaulted him with a knife on at least one occasion.

This act of violence, in hindsight, foreshadowed what was to come.

Five months after their relationship ended, Wilson strangled 35-year-old Kristine Melton while she slept after meeting her in a bar in Fort Myers, Fla. Hours later, he lured 43-year-old Diane Ruiz into his car and choked her while he was driving, Gulf Coast News Now reported. He then ran over her body multiple times.

Wilson was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in June 2024 and received two death sentences.

So, where is Christopher Lane now? Here’s everything to know about his relationship with Wade Wilson and his life after dating the “Deadpool Killer.”

Lane briefly dated Wilson months before his killing spree

The two men met in March 2019 while working at a carnival in Inverness, Fla. A week after being introduced, Wilson moved into Lane’s RV, and they started dating soon after.

He even asked Lane to make their relationship Facebook official, which came as a surprise, given that Wilson had been “so skeptical about being with a guy.”

“Wade said that he was straight when I met him,” Lane said on Worst Ex Ever. “But I was like ‘That seems a little sketchy.’ If you’re straight, you don’t move into a guy’s house with a guy and then want to sleep in his bed.”

He claimed that Wilson attacked him with a knife

After a night of partying and taking a substance Lane believed to be bath salts, Wilson allegedly began “flipping out” over someone breaking into the RV — then threatened to slit Lane’s throat with a knife.

What followed, Lane claimed, was a four-hour altercation in which Wilson choked and stabbed him multiple times in the chest and hand, before throwing him through a pair of sliding glass doors.

Wilson fled, only to return the next day alongside Lane’s sister, covered in blood.

“My sister calmed the situation down, and like, he showed back up with blood all over him and apologized,” Lane said on Worst Ex Ever. “He seemed sincere.”

Wilson wasn’t charged with attacking Lane

Lane didn’t report the incident to the police, and they moved to Key West a month later.

He broke up with Wilson after learning that he had been lying to people about the nature of their relationship.

At the time Worst Ex Ever was released in May 2026, no charges had been brought against Wilson in connection with Lane’s alleged assault.

Where is Christopher Lane now?

According to his Instagram page, Lane still resides in Florida and works in the carnival circuit.

Though he’s mostly kept his history with Wade private, he shared a screenshot on Instagram of his profile views increasing in August 2024 with the caption, “When people find out your the til tok killerWade Wilson’s ex boyfriend lol.”

Worst Ex Ever marked the first time Lane opened up about his relationship with the “Deadpool Killer.”

“Looking back, the night Wade stabbed me could have ended up very differently,” he said on Worst Ex Ever. “I could have been dead.”

PEOPLE

People

David Attenborough, ‘the voice for nature,’ turns 100

Britain’s David Attenborough, who has for decades been the world’s most authoritative voice on the natural world and whose documentaries have been watched by hundreds of millions, will on Friday celebrate his 100th birthday.

After more than 70 years of film-making, Attenborough’s instantly recognisable voice is synonymous with the story of ‌nature. He is still at the vanguard of efforts to protect the environment and has produced some of his most impactful work in recent years.

Counting Britain’s royal family, Barack Obama and pop star Billie Eilish among his admirers, Attenborough’s charisma, humour and warmth, alongside the depth of his knowledge and his flair for storytelling, have made him a broadcasting superstar.

“Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our natural environment remains unequalled,” was how the late Queen Elizabeth summed up his achievements in 2019.

‘LONESOME GEORGE’ AND THE FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT

Attenborough’s films have communicated the wonder and also the tragedies of the natural world to viewers across the globe.

Standout scenes include his encounter with two playful young mountain gorillas who clambered onto him ⁠during his landmark 1979 series “Life on Earth”.

He also made his audience marvel at the teamwork of a pod of orcas hunting a seal by creating waves to break up ice, and his telling in 2012 of the story of “Lonesome George”, the last surviving Pinta Island tortoise, moved people to tears.

“He’s about 80 years old, and getting a bit creaky in his joints – as indeed am I,” Attenborough, then 86, said.

George’s death, two weeks after he was filmed, marked the extinction of his species.

“He’s focused the attention of the world on the fragility of our environment,” Attenborough said at the time.

While Attenborough has topped numerous national popularity polls, being named the country’s most admired man and the greatest living British cultural icon, friends say he rolls his eyes when he is labelled a “national treasure”.

“What he feels is that he’s a public servant. He feels that he had the unique opportunity to be the voice for nature, to tell everybody about the wonders of nature,” Mike Gunton, a television producer who has worked with Attenborough many times, told Reuters.

As climate change has accelerated and the threat to much of the world has become more urgent, Attenborough devoted much of ‌his 90s ⁠to raising public awareness.

His 2017 blockbuster “Blue Planet 2”, which highlighted the scourge of plastic in the ocean, achieved some of the highest viewing figures on British television before being sold to broadcasters around the world.

Albatrosses unwittingly feeding their chicks plastic fished from the ocean jolted public opinion and led the British government and major retailers to announce measures to reduce the use of plastics.

“I think every single person who’s seen anything that Sir David has done has been inspired to care about nature,” said Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum in London.

SPECIAL BBC BROADCASTS AND EVENTS

In Britain, Attenborough’s centenary is being marked with a week of ⁠special broadcasts on the BBC, a live concert at the Royal Albert Hall, events at museums, nature walks and tree planting.

The broadcasts include his new series “Secret Garden”. At 99, he remains heavily involved in programme-making, say BBC colleagues, driven by his enduring curiosity and joy of storytelling.

“That’s typical David. He makes everything really enjoyable,” said Mike Salisbury, who has worked as a producer on several Attenborough documentaries.

Born on May 8, 1926, Attenborough spent ⁠his childhood collecting fossils, insects and dried seahorses.

His BBC career took off in 1954 when he presented “Zoo Quest”, which involved him travelling to far-flung parts of the world and bringing animals back to London Zoo.

By the 1970s he had risen to be programme controller at the broadcaster but decided he wanted to return to making nature documentaries.

Screened in 1979 when he was 52, “Life on Earth” ⁠made him a household name. He wrote the entire 13-hour script and travelled the world for three years to tell the story of evolution from simple organisms to humans.

Dozens of documentaries followed, including “Blue Planet,” “Frozen Planet” and “Dynasties”. As the decades passed, his sense of the need to act only increased.

“How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing?” Attenborough said.

Reuters

People

Meryl Streep revives iconic cerulean sweater

Miranda Priestly would have something to say about Meryl Streep’s latest look.

With a nod to one of the most iconic moments in “The Devil Wears Prada,” Streep appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” wearing a cerulean blue cable-knit sweater.

The J.Crew cashmere style is a custom version of one that the brand currently sells for $198, created with Streep’s stylist Micaela Erlanger.

J.Crew designer Olympia Gayot said in a press release, “Meryl made cerulean a cultural thesis, so the bar was high. That monologue is so smart and funny — it reminds you that what feels personal is actually part of a much bigger story, which is why ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ still resonates.”

“At J.Crew, we’ve been obsessed with color since 1983, so stepping into cerulean — the cerulean — with Micaela was equal parts honor and wink,” she added.

When asked about the look, Streep casually tells Colbert that it’s “Annie Hathaway’s,” referring to her co-star, who wore a similar style in one of the first meetings of their on-screen characters, with the host then repeating a line from the original 2006 movie.

Speaking about the “lumpy blue sweater” Hathaway wears in the original, Streep as Priestley says, “what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.”

After describing the trickle-down of the trend from 2002 Oscar de la Renta in to “some tragic casual corner where [she], no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin,” she delivers one of the most-repeated lines from the film.

“That blue represents millions of dollars of countless jobs, and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room … from a pile of ‘stuff.’”

The press tour for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” has only just begun and this is already the second nod to the color that is burned in everyone’s brains.

On Sunday, Ashley Afriyie, who has been working with Hathaway and Streep’s styling teams, also shared a photo on Instagram of the former wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a Pantone chip of the bright blue cerulean hue. It said “ ceruleo,” the Italian word for cerulean.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Streep shared, “The first movie was such an unknown quantity,” adding, “that fashion brands were initially hesitant to get on board and lend clothes.”

The sequel is clearly free of any similar issues.

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