Axios-Ipsos poll: Americans want to force presidents to share health records
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Eight in 10 Americans want legally required and publicly released cognitive tests and disease screenings for U.S. presidents — and age limits on the presidency, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
- About 3 in 4 say politicians aren't honest about their health, and that presidents should be legally required to share their medical records with the public.
Why it matters: The issue of presidents' health has become particularly poignant in light of the decline of Joe Biden, who was 82 when he left office, and the return of Donald Trump, who's now 79 and was the oldest president to be inaugurated in U.S. history.
- Trump rarely has offered glimpses into his health records. His team released a memo after his physical in April that pronounced him in "excellent health," but political foes such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom have questioned Trump's mental fitness and whether he's up to the job.
Biden's White House physician had claimed that Biden was in great shape for a man of his age. But during his presidency, Biden's staff tried to conceal his declining health.
- Biden's recent cancer diagnosis has drawn new attention to the lack of legal requirements for public officials to disclose their medical status.
What we're watching: Democrats surveyed in the poll appear to favor such disclosures slightly more than Republicans — and, overall, Americans are less interested in forcing past presidents to share their records than requiring current ones to do so.
What they're saying: "The American public is sending a very clear signal that they don't trust the information they're receiving, that it's not sufficient, and that public officials should be held to a higher standard when it comes to being forthcoming about their health," said Mallory Newall, Ipsos vice president for U.S. public affairs.
- "Americans want more transparency about their elected officials' health. They're looking for a younger generation to serve."
The big picture: The balance between public officials' medical privacy and the public's right to know has swung sharply toward more disclosure, the poll showed.
- It found strong bipartisan appetite for increased transparency about public officials' health, and for a maximum age at which officeholders and Supreme Court justices can serve. (Respondents were not asked what age the maximum age should be.)
By the numbers: 72% of Americans strongly or somewhat disagree with the idea that most elected officials are honest with the American public about their health.
- 74% overall agree that there should be a legal requirement for any current president to share their health records.
- The public is much more divided on former presidents' health, with just 40% agreeing there should be a legal requirement to share their health records and 57% opposed.
- About 8 in 10 Americans broadly favor age limits for Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, as well as for presidents.
More Democrats (83%) favor a legal requirement that the current president share health records than Republicans (70%) or independents (72%).
- The same goes for age limits and for mandatory cognitive screening and disease testing with sharable results. But in each case, more than three-quarters of Republicans, Democrats and independents support those requirements.
Between the lines: Public officials aren't held to any legal standards for disclosing their medical status.
- While America is getting older and life expectancies generally have increased, questions about aging politicians' fitness to serve and their ability to make critical judgements have moved to the forefront.
- That's partly driven by a nonstop news cycle that keeps many in the limelight and can expose frailties. But the rules for talking about their health are mostly rooted in traditions like the president's annual physical.
- Former White House physician Jeffrey Kuhlman has argued for a battery of cognitive tests, rather than a screening exam, to assess presidents' memory, language and problem-solving skills.
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted June 13-16, 2025, by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,104 general population adults age 18 or older.
- The margin of sampling error is +/-3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.
