Trump turns 80 as Americans work longer into their 80s

Donald Trump turned 80 on Flag Day, with the White House planning a UFC event on the South Lawn as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The birthday has become more than a political milestone. It has put a sharper national spotlight on what it takes to keep working, and competing, into one’s 80s.

That question is no longer confined to presidents and CEOs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 19.5 percent of people age 65 and older were in the labor force in 2024, and participation among people 75 and older reached 10.2 percent overall, including 12.8 percent for men and 8.1 percent for women. The agency also projects that the labor force age 75 and older will grow much faster than younger groups over the next decade, with a 96.5 percent increase.

The Census Bureau says workers ages 55 and older have been the fastest-growing age group in the labor force for more than two decades. They made up 24 percent of the U.S. workforce in 2022, up from 10 percent in 1994. AARP says adults 75 and older are the fastest-growing slice of the 50-plus population, and expects the economic contribution of the 50-plus group to nearly double by 2060. The trend is reshaping what employers, voters and public institutions mean when they talk about experience, stamina and readiness.

Age matters differently depending on the job. In a courtroom, on a factory floor, in a hospital or in the Oval Office, the demands are not the same. But the public systems that judge fitness for work often lag behind the reality that more Americans are remaining on the job well past 65. CDC/NIOSH says older workers are less likely to be injured, but when they are injured, those injuries are more likely to be serious. That makes workplace design, health protections and reasonable accommodations more than benefits. They are part of keeping older Americans safe and productive.

Trump is not the oldest president in U.S. history, but he is among the oldest to serve, and his 80th birthday arrives at a moment when age has become a governing issue in its own right. The comparison now reaching far beyond Washington is not simply whether someone is old enough to do the job. It is whether the job, and the institutions around it, are built for the reality that more Americans are doing it longer.