Trump 'surprised' public wasn't told about Biden's cancer diagnosis 'a long time ago'

Donald Trump has said he is "surprised" the public wasn't "notified a long time ago" after Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Mr Trump also suggested that at least one of the doctors treating Mr Biden for the disease had previously claimed the former US president was "cognitively fine" - something he claims later turned out to be "not so". Mr Biden, 82, was diagnosed with cancer on Friday, with tests revealing the disease had spread to his bones.

Prostate cancer is assigned a Gleason score, which ranges from two to 10 and indicates how abnormal the cancer cells are when compared to healthy tissue under a microscope. Mr Biden's office reported his score was nine, suggesting a highly aggressive form of the disease.

Asked by a reporter at the White House this evening if he had any comment about the diagnosis, Mr Trump said: "I think it's very sad, actually. "I'm surprised the public wasn't notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine, that's a long time." Mr Trump said that he had just had a "very complete" physical test which included "cognitive tests" and added: "I'm proud to announce I aced it." Mr Biden had been running against Mr Trump in the 2024 presidential election before stepping down after a disastrous debate performance fuelled concerns around his age and fitness to serve.

Much of the concern was over his cognitive abilities following a series of gaffes - including referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "President Putin" during a NATO summit. In his comments at the White House, Mr Trump suggested that a doctor that had previously tested Mr Biden's cognitive abilities was also involved in diagnosing his cancer.

The US president said: "I think that, if you take a look it's the same doctor that said that Joe was cognitively fine... there was nothing wrong with him.

"Well... if it's the same doctor who said there was nothing wrong there...

that's been proven to be a sad situation." Mr Trump added that "in other words" there are "things going on that the public wasn't informed of" and said it was "very dangerous". Referencing Mr Biden's diagnosis, the US president continued: "The other thing you have to say is why did it take so long? I mean...

this takes a long time, can take years to get to this level of danger." He added: "I think people should try and find out what happened... Maybe it was the same doctor and somebody is not telling the facts..

That's a big problem." It is not clear if the US president was referring to the length of time it took for Mr Biden to get a diagnosis or the amount of time it took for it to be made public. Mr Trump was speaking to reporters following a two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday as he tries to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

The US president has said in the Oval Office there is a "good chance" of peace between Russia and Ukraine - but added that America has a red line in upcoming talks. Mr Trump would not say what that red line is.

There are "big egos involved.