Trump's 'Recycled' Sharks and Electric Boats Rant Sparks 'Dementia' Concerns as Prez Declares 'I'll Take the Electrocution'
Donald Trump told a rambling story about a shark and an electric boat during a recent speaking engagement.
Sept. 23 2026, Published 7:09 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump’s attempt to connect with hunters and outdoorsmen took a strange turn when he revived his long-running hypothetical about electric boats, electrocution and sharks.
Speaking to more than 100 hunters and outdoorsmen in the White House Rose Garden on September 17, Trump said he would rather risk electrocution than jump into the water near sharks if an electric boat began sinking, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Shark Tale
Donald Trump has addressed the hypothetical situation in the past.
Trump, 80, recalled a conversation he said he had with a South Carolina boat manufacturer while discussing his opposition to electric boats.
“I said, ‘So if I’m in an electric boat and I see I’m going down and the water’s pouring in, so I know I’m gonna be electrocuted, but five yards away there are sharks. Do I take the electrocution or do I go swimming with the sharks?’” he said.
“And you know what my answer was? ‘I’ll take the electrocution, okay? I’ll take the electric,'" he remembered telling him. "But he didn’t know how to answer the question.”
“He said, ‘No idea.’ But what I did do is, it didn’t matter because I ended that nonsense,” Trump continued, referring to his past claim that the Biden administration wanted all boats to be electric.
Trump Sparks Health Concerns Over Repeated Storytelling
Donald Trump said he's prefer to risk electrocution than shark-infested waters.
Trump's repetition of the hypothetical reignited dementia concerns online.
One critic on X shared an image that read in part: "Repeating stories or tasks is a common symptom in dementia, particularly in Alzheimer's disease and other forms like vascular or frontotemporal dementia."
Another person wrote, "Dementia Don is by leaps and bounds the stupidest president in American history."
A third critic added, "What in the world is this buffoon talking about? He's truly gone."
Donald Trump First Told the Story in 2023
Trump acknowledged that his shark and boat story gets a lot of attention from the media.
Trump acknowledged that he has repeatedly told the story over the years.
“You remember this? I used to say it during the campaign, driving the press crazy, but people found it sort of amusing,” he said.
The president first told versions of the tale during his 2023 campaign. He returned to it during a June 2024 rally in Las Vegas, describing a sinking electric boat, an underwater battery, and a shark about 10 yards away.
Trump’s fascination with sharks has surfaced repeatedly since then. He also mentioned the animal while discussing plastic straws in February 2025. He revisited the topic once again during a December 2025 White House Christmas reception.
How Boating Restrictions Have Changed
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Boating laws have changed under Trump.
His recent rant on sharks and electric boats came during a broader Rose Garden event where Trump announced new policies involving hunting, fishing and boating.
He also discussed federal restrictions designed to reduce vessel collisions with endangered North Atlantic whales. At the time, Trump mistakenly brought sharks into the discussion, saying regulators “didn’t want to hurt something in the water; they didn’t want to hurt sharks. It’s unbelievable.”
The president also repeated his claim that past administrations have pushed electric boats.
“We won with common sense. This stuff is common sense. They also — as you know — they wanted to make all boats electric, only electric,” Trump said.
