Former President Barack Obama’s White House physician said in a new interview that former President Joe Biden’s doctor should have performed a cognitive test to evaluate his fitness to serve in office. 

Obama’s doctor, Jeffrey Kuhlman, told The Washington Post that Biden White House physician Kevin O’Connor should have performed a cognitive test during Biden’s last year as president, given his age. 

O’Connor, who Kuhlman first appointed as Biden’s doctor in 2009 when he was vice president, declared in a 2024 report that the then-81-year-old president «continues to be fit for duty.» The report did not mention any neurocognitive testing. 

«Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest,» Kuhlman told the Post.

«It shouldn’t be just health, it should be fitness,» Kuhlman said. «Fitness is: Do you have that robust mind, body, spirit that you can do this physically, mentally, emotionally demanding job?»

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Kuhlman, who departed the White House Medical Unit in 2013, described O’Connor as «a good doctor» who appeared to do his best to «give trusted medical advice.»

«I didn’t see that he’s purposely hiding stuff, but I don’t know that,» Kuhlman told the Post. «Maybe the investigation will show it.»

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Biden’s aides «abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority.» 

«This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,» the order says. «The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.»  

«Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,» Biden said in a statement Wednesday night. «I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.»

Trump’s order appeared to nod to the findings of special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents while he was vice president. 

In a report released in February 2024, Hur concluded Biden «willfully retained and disclosed» sensitive materials but should not stand trial, describing the president as a «sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.» Hur cited instances when Biden could not recall key dates and events, including when he served as vice president and when his son, Beau, passed away. The report was released at a time when Biden was still planning a second term run. 

Last week, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena for O’Connor to appear for a deposition at the end of the month «as part of the investigation into the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and potentially unauthorized issuance of sweeping pardons and other executive actions.» 

Former President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park, in New Castle, Delaware, on May 30, 2025.  (REUTERS/Ken Cedeno)

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The committee re-posted the Post’s interview with Kuhlman to X, writing, «Even Obama’s doctor admits the truth. This is precisely why Chairman @RepJamesComer subpoenaed Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician. This is a scandal of historical proportions, and we will investigate it thoroughly!» 

In a letter to O’Connor, Comer said the transcribed interview would focus on the physician’s February 2024 assessment that Biden was «a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.»

«Among other subjects, the Committee expressed its interest in whether your financial relationship with the Biden family affected your assessment of former President Biden’s physical and mental fitness to fulfill his duties as President,» Comer wrote. 

Questions about Biden’s cognitive state stretch extend solely past Republicans. 

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson recently published a book titled «Original Sin,» which details concerns and debates inside the White House and Democratic Party over Biden’s mental state and age.

In the book, Tapper and Thompson wrote, «Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.»

President Joe Biden speaks with White House Physician Kevin O’Connor as he arrives back at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 2023.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Naomi Biden, the former president’s granddaughter, dismissed the book as «political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class.» 

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Comer requested transcribed interviews with Biden’s White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti, a former counselor to the president. He also called for former senior White House aides Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams and Neera Tanden to appear before the committee and suggested subpoenas could be forthcoming if they did not schedule voluntary interviews. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Una planta química clave para la fabricación de explosivos en la región rusa de Tula se incendió en las primeras horas del domingo tras ser impactada por un dron ucraniano, marcando el segundo ataque contra esta instalación estratégica en apenas dos semanas, según informaron autoridades rusas.

El gobernador regional Dmitri Miliáyev confirmó que el incendio en la planta química Azot se desató después de que los restos de un dron ucraniano derribado cayeran sobre la fábrica de nitrógeno y amoníaco, ubicada aproximadamente 200 kilómetros al sur de Moscú. “El fuego fue sofocado”, declaró Miliáyev en un mensaje de Telegram, añadiendo que dos personas resultaron heridas durante el incidente, aunque sus vidas no corren peligro.

La instalación, situada en Novomoskovsk, Tula, representa uno de los mayores fabricantes químicos de Rusia y el segundo mayor productor de amoníaco y fertilizantes nitrogenados del país. Su producción incluye nitrato de amonio, un ingrediente clave en la fabricación de explosivos; metanol, que puede servir como base para combustible de cohetes; y argón, utilizado en la metalurgia de defensa.

Según testigos presenciales citados por canales de Telegram rusos, se escucharon entre cinco y ocho explosiones fuertes durante el ataque nocturno.

El canal de Telegram ucraniano Exilenova+ suguirió que el impacto alcanzó el área de acceso a la tubería principal de la planta, no las unidades de procesamiento directamente. Un trabajador de la planta, en un video supuestamente filmado en el sitio, declaró: “Básicamente, golpeó una tubería — una de gas, una línea de propano.”

El ataque del domingo representa la segunda vez en dos semanas que drones ucranianos impactan la instalación Azot. El ataque previo ocurrió el 24 de mayo, cuando drones alcanzaron una tubería de gas de baja presión en el taller número 4, dañando dos tanques de ácido nítrico de 750 toneladas. Uno de los tanques derramó su contenido al suelo, lo que provocó el cierre completo de la instalación.

La planta Azot representa un objetivo estratégico crucial para las fuerzas ucranianas debido a su papel en la producción de defensa rusa. Según Reuters, Azot suministra materias primas a la planta Sverdlov en la región de Nizhny Novgorod para su uso en la fabricación de compuestos explosivos como HMX y RDX para municiones de artillería.

La compañía también produce cloro, plásticos, resinas, soda cáustica, cloruro de calcio y ácido nítrico, todos componentes esenciales para la industria de defensa rusa.

Las autoridades de Tula confirmaron que el Servicio ruso de protección al consumidor (Rospotrebnadzor) y entidades ecologistas locales están monitoreando la posible contaminación ambiental tras el incendio en la planta química, sin detectar hasta el momento niveles de contaminación superiores a la norma.

El ataque a la planta Azot formó parte de una ofensiva nocturna más amplia de Ucrania contra territorio ruso. El Ministerio de Defensa ruso informó haber derribado un total de 65 drones ucranianos sobre siete regiones rusas y la península anexionada de Crimea durante las operaciones que se extendieron desde las 23:00 hora de Moscú del sábado hasta las 09:00 del domingo.

Los ataques obligaron a tres aeropuertos de Moscú — Domodédovo, Zhukovski y Vnúkovo — a suspender temporalmente sus operaciones, según informó el alcalde de Moscú, Serguéi Sobianin. Los servicios de monitoreo de drones reportaron que Moscú fue atacada desde tres direcciones por el sur y el oeste.

Paralelamente, el sábado drones ucranianos también atacaron una planta de producción de betún cerca de la refinería de Lukoil en Kstovo, en la región de Nizhny Novgorod, aproximadamente 800 kilómetros de Ucrania. El Ministerio de Situaciones de Emergencia ruso confirmó un incendio mayor, señalando que “unidades de producción de betún con un volumen total de 200 metros cúbicos están ardiendo.”

Los ataques marcan la reanudación de la campaña ucraniana contra instalaciones de almacenamiento y procesamiento de combustible rusas, después de una pausa de varios meses y de la exitosa “Operación Telaraña” que golpeó varias bases aéreas rusas.

El viernes 6 de junio, Ucrania atacó el depósito de combustible Kristall de Rosrezerv en Engels, región de Saratov, donde se almacena combustible de aviación para bombarderos estratégicos rusos.

El ataque previo de este tipo había ocurrido el 18 de marzo, cuando drones ucranianos atacaron la terminal de transbordo de petróleo Kavkaz en la región de Krasnodar.

Los ataques se producen en un momento de intensificación del conflicto, con Rusia reportando el domingo que sus fuerzas habían avanzado por primera vez hacia la región industrial oriental de Dnipropetrovsk de Ucrania, marcando una escalada territorial significativa.

El Ministerio de Defensa ruso declaró que fuerzas de una unidad de tanques habían “alcanzado la frontera occidental de la República Popular de Donetsk y continúan desarrollando una ofensiva en la región de Dnipropetrovsk.”

President Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel from 10 African countries are being praised by analysts for improving U.S. security internationally and domestically.

The president said on X the travel ban was being introduced after a terror attack against a pro-Israel group advocating for Hamas to release Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, last weekend, allegedly by an Egyptian man who had overstayed his visa.

In a White House fact sheet, Trump said, «We will restore the travel ban, some people call it the Trump travel ban, and keep the radical Islamic terrorists out of our country.»

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This point was backed by the State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott. In a briefing Thursday, Pigott said, «This is a national security imperative».

But observers believe there is an external, international reason. 

«Most, if not all, of the African countries were added to this list either because of extreme instability and thus terrorist havens or because relations between them and the U.S. is either extremely poor or non-existent,» Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. 

«For instance, the U.S. has been historically hard on Eritrea for its human rights abuses and also alleged support for terrorism. While in Chad, its military regime kicked the U.S. military out of its territory last year, further hurting the U.S. military posture in Africa.»

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Some of the restricted African countries listed below pose significant potential security concerns for the U.S.

In this Feb. 17, 2011, file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabaab fighters perform military exercises in an area south of Mogadishu, Somalia.  (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

SOMALIA 

The world’s two principal Islamist terror groups, ISIS and al Qaeda, represented here by Al-Shabaab, both operate openly in Somalia. The White House described it this week as «a terrorist safe haven.» 

A briefing note accompanying the travel ban declared, «A persistent terrorist threat emanates from Somalia’s territory. Somalia also remains a destination for individuals attempting to join terrorist groups that threaten the national security of the United States.»  

The U.S. Africa Command mounted five air attacks against operators from both groups in just the 12 days up to June 2. 

LIBYA 

Fighting and subsequent piles of bodies in the streets have been reported in the past month in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The U.N.’s Support Mission in Libya recently posted on X that the situation could «spiral out of control.»

«The historical terrorist presence within Libya’s territory amplifies the risks posed by the entry into the United States of its nationals,» the White House note states, adding U.S. border officials can’t properly vet Libyans because «there is no competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents in Libya.»

SUDAN 

Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a Sudanese rebel group active in Sudan’s Darfur State that supports army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern Gedaref state March 28, 2024. (Getty Images)

The U.S. has already imposed sanctions against the leaders of both parties involved in a two-year civil war that has reportedly killed 150,000 and displaced 12 million. The U.S. claims up to 28% of Sudanese overstay their visas.

ERITREA 

The criminal records of Eritreans are not available for inspection by U.S. officials. With an overstay rate of up to 55%, the White House also reported that «Eritrea has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals.»   

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CHAD 

The West African country is causing concern in Washington as it deepens relations with Russia. Chad President Idriss Deby went to Moscow last year for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was then warmly welcomed in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, for a reciprocal visit. Russia’s shadowy Wagner private mercenary group’s importance in the country is being questioned after three of its members were arrested in September and sent back to Moscow. 

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state-owned agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chad’s Transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby at the Kremlin in Moscow Jan. 24, 2024.  (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Banning nationals this week, the U.S. said Chad has had a visa overstay rate of up to 55%. In Chad, President Deby responded by saying, «I have instructed the government to act in accordance with the principles of reciprocity and suspend the issuance of visas to U.S. citizens.»

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

People from this West African country have reportedly overstayed their F, M and J visas by up to 70%.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

Depending on the visa category, up to 35% of citizens in the U.S. are reported to have overstayed their visas.

Overstaying is the main issue for the other African countries whose nationals are partially restricted and now have only limited entry into the U.S.

SIERRA LEONE 

Has an overstay rate of up to 35%, and, the White House says, «has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals.»

Libyan protesters gather in Tripoli’s Martyrs Square to call for the resignation of the national unity government May 14, 2025. (Getty Images)

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TOGO 

Togo suffers from poor governance, nepotism and widespread corruption, which reportedly goes all the way to the president’s office. Over 50% of the population lives below what’s regarded as the international poverty line. Togo’s nationals have an overstay rate of up to 35% in the U.S.

BURUNDI 

Burundi vies with South Sudan for the dubious title of poorest country in the world. Yet soaring inflation has caused a devastating rise in food prices. A former rebel group has led the country for two decades in an climate of political unrest and alleged repression. Burundi’s citizens have an overstay rate of up to 17% in the U.S.