LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan and a conservative commentator, has died. He was 80.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute announced his death in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday, calling him “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy.”
“Michael Reagan lived a life shaped by conviction, purpose, and an abiding devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” the foundation said.
His cause of death was not immediately announced.
“Michael was called home to be with the Lord on Sunday, January 4th, surrounded by his entire family,” his wife, Colleen Reagan, and two children, Cameron Reagan and Ashley Reagan Dunster, wrote in a statement. “Our hearts are deeply broken as we grieve the loss of a man who meant so much to all who knew and loved him."
Reagan was a contributor to the conservative Newsmax television network and was known for his talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show.”
Born to Irene Flaugher in 1945, Reagan was adopted just hours after his birth by Ronald Reagan and his then-wife, actor Jane Wyman.
The young Reagan followed in his parents' footsteps.
After attending Arizona State University and Los Angeles Valley College, Reagan took up acting, playing in television shows including “Falcon Crest," and he spent nearly two decades as a conservative radio talk show host, speaking of politics and culture.
In two autobiographical books titled “On the Outside Looking in” and “Twice Adopted," he told of, at times, a difficult childhood, which included coming to terms with his adoption and his journey of faith.
Reagan penned several others, including "Lessons My Father Taught Me" published in 2016, where he detailed lessons learned growing up the son of Ronald Reagan.
Throughout his life, Reagan raised money and worked for charities, using powerboat racing as a means of fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Statue of Liberty Restoration Fund. Reagan sat on the advisory board for Mixed Roots Foundation, which focuses on the foster care and adoption in the U.S. and globally.
Reagan served as chair of the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation board for three years, working on the same disease his father succumbed to in 2004.
As president and chair of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, he championed the legacy of his father. The conservative former president was known for trying to scale back government and devoting his presidency to winning the Cold War.
FILE - Michael Reagan introduces a video tribute to his late father, President Ronald Reagan, during the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta, File)
FILE - Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan, introduces Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during a campaign stop, Jan. 30, 2012, in Pensacola, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
MILAN (AP) — Top Italian skiers Federica Brignone and Sofia Goggia will not be in Sölden when the World Cup season starts in Austria on Oct. 24 and are unsure when they can compete again.
Brignone stunned the sport when she won two Olympic gold medals — in super-G and giant slalom — at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February, just 10 months after breaking multiple bones in her left leg.
The 36-year-old skier then underwent another operation at the end of August to remove a metal plate and screws from the leg because of persistent pain and discomfort.
“It was something I had to do also for my day-to-day life, to feel better,” Brignone said on Friday. “Now I’m back to doing physiotherapy every day … but I’m happy with how it’s going, it’s definitely easier than last year.
“I have no idea when I’ll be back, I haven’t even really put on skis since February. I did two days on the glacier (in July) but I wouldn’t even call that skiing, I really struggled. But now, I’m better. The first aim is to put on skis again and then I will be able to understand when I can come back to racing or at least do serious training.”
Goggia, who claimed bronze in the downhill in Cortina to add to her previous tally of an Olympic gold and a silver medal, has been battling two viral infections since a training camp in Argentina.
That affected her nervous system, causing her severe pain as well as making it difficult at times to even talk or walk down the stairs — and she also said she couldn’t even remember how to jump.
“I was very scared when I had these indescribable pains, without even understanding where they came from,” Goggia said. “I was very scared by these excruciating pains that I had even at night, turning in bed.
“Then when you get back to Italy and you feel very sluggish, you’re struggling with stairs, you’re slow with works, you’re slow with movements – I knew there was something wrong, but at least the initial assessments excluded anything serious.”
Goggia — who holds four World Cup downhill titles and is also the reigning super-G champion — is primarily a speed specialist. The season begins with seven technical races, three of which are in Europe, before another four in North America.
The first downhills and super-G are scheduled for Dec. 11-13 in Beaver Creek before returning to Europe.
Brignone and Goggia are aiming to train at Copper Mountain. Brignone will almost certainly miss the North American races, while Goggia is hoping to make her comeback then.
“That’s the idea,” she said. “I only started training last week because the two weeks before I was back and forth to hospital and I was really tired, weak and still had strong symptoms. So they told me to rest more.”
Goggia has had to deal with several serious injuries in her career, but said that coping with this illness was much more difficult as she didn’t have “a biological healing time.”
“So the only goal I’m setting for myself right now is to get back to being clear-headed, coordinated, and mentally present, with my neurological system fully back to normal. I’m in the final stages of this virus and there are still some lingering aftereffects but I’ve made tremendous progress.”
See AP's full alpine-skiing coverage here
FILE - Italy's Sofia Goggia competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti, file)
FILE - Italy's Federica Brignone speeds down the course during a women's World Cup super-G race, in Soldeu, Andorra, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti, file)
