{"id":453958,"date":"2026-05-31T10:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/453958\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T10:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:54:12","slug":"trumps-physician-says-the-president-is-fully-fit-to-serve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/453958\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s physician says the president is ‘fully fit’ to serve"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s physician says the US president is in \u201cexcellent health\u201d and is \u201cfully fit\u201d to serve as commander in chief after a medical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.<\/p>\n

A report from Dr Sean Barbabella, released late Friday (local time), says Trump underwent a CT scan and other heart imaging, along with cancer screenings and other preventative assessments carried out by 22 specialists.<\/p>\n

Trump, 79, said after the three-hour visit Tuesday (local time) that everything checked out \u201cPERFECTLY\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The president weighed in at 108kg, up 6kg from a medical exam in April 2025. His doctors gave him guidance on his diet, physical activity and weight loss, but concluded his \u201ccognitive and physical performance are excellent\u201d.<\/p>\n

With his 1.9 metre frame, Trump has a body mass index of 29.7. An index of 30 is considered by doctors to be obese.<\/p>\n

The report also documented bruising on Trump\u2019s hands, explained as \u201cminor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking,\u201d and said it was \u201ca common and benign effect of aspirin therapy.” Among the recommendations was a switch to low-dose aspirin.<\/p>\n

\"Bruising<\/p>\n

Bruising that has been seen numerous times on Trump’s hand is said to be from hand shaking. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Last year the White House said Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency<\/a>, a fairly common condition for older adults that causes blood to pool in the president’s legs. The report from his latest exam noted \u201cslight lower leg swelling\u201d but said there was \u201cimprovement from last year.”<\/p>\n

His doctor reported nothing abnormal, saying Trump demonstrated strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall health.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being,\u201d Barbabella wrote.<\/p>\n

Trump was again given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is used to screen for dementia and cognitive impairment<\/a>. Trump\u2019s doctors reported he scored 30 out of 30, the same score that was reported last year and in 2018.<\/p>\n

His cholesterol levels have improved significantly with the help of medication. Trump’s total cholesterol came in at 143, down from 223 in 2018. It had been down to 140 last April. He takes rosuvastatin to help lower his bad cholesterol, known as LDL, and to raise his good cholesterol, or HDL. He also takes ezetimibe to help lower his LDL.<\/p>\n

The exam, which Trump described as a six-month physical, was his fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term. It comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Past administrations have also released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander in chief\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

But there is no law requiring presidents to disclose their full health records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump\u2019s past reports have been criticised for offering scant detail and for providing statistics that some medical experts have viewed with scepticism.<\/p>\n

Trump, a Republican, turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected US president. His immediate predecessor, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was 82 when he left office, dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns he was too old for the job.<\/p>\n

Trump has tried to fight off public concern over his age and stamina. He often appears with makeup covering bruises on his hands, and photographs have shown the president with swollen feet, ankles and calves.<\/p>\n

He has recently talked about how good he feels, even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food and his minimal exercise beyond frequent golf outings. At recent public appearances, Trump has said he feels the same as he did 50 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s physician says the US president is in \u201cexcellent health\u201d and is \u201cfully fit\u201d to serve as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,134,43,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-453958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}