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Trump Annual Physical Tuesday 05/26 06:22
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is scheduled to get a medical exam
on Tuesday, putting his health under renewed public scrutiny after he has
worked to dismiss concerns over his age and stamina.
The 79-year-old president is scheduled to visit Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center for what the White House described as annual
preventative medical and dental checkups. It will be Trump's fourth publicly
disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and comes
as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his
sway with voters.
For decades, administrations have released selected results from
presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the
commander-in-chief's health. But the results are filtered through the White
House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the
public does and doesn't get to see.
Trump turns 80 next month and was the oldest person elected U.S. president.
His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, was 82 when he left office,
dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of widespread concerns he
was too old for the job.
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less
than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical
health to serve effectively as president.
"I think concern for the president's physical health is probably at an
all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern," said
Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician for more than a
decade under former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
For a president of Trump's age, a complete physical would be expected to
include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive
assessment, along with basics like height, weight and blood pressure, Kuhlman
said.
The White House has not disclosed what the visit will entail, but expressed
confidence in what it will show.
"President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American
history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises,
and he remains in excellent health," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said
in a statement.
No law requiring presidents to disclose their medical records
In the weeks leading up to his visit, Trump has been saying he feels as good
as he did five decades ago -- even as he jokes about his fondness for fast food
and his minimal exercise regimen. Yet he's also sensitive to perceptions about
his age, noting that he takes extra caution descending the steps from Air Force
One to avoid headlines about a stumble.
There is no formal law requiring presidents to publicize their health
records, and the degree of transparency has varied by administration. Trump's
past reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and reporting
statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.
At public appearances, Trump is often seen wearing makeup to conceal
bruising on his hands, which the White House attributes to handshaking and
regular aspirin use. He has sometimes appeared drowsy during meetings and
closed his eyes for long stretches, though he denies having fallen asleep.
Trump often boasts of having "aced" cognitive tests while frequently
deriding Biden, who faced questions about his mental acuity. Some of Trump's
previous physicals have included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used to
screen for dementia and cognitive impairment. His physicians reported a score
of 30 out of 30 for Trump at 2018 and 2025 checkups.
Yet critics have pointed to Trump's meandering speeches and sometimes
bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.
Last month, a statement from more than 30 neurologists, psychiatrists and
other medical experts -- who acknowledged they've never examined him -- said
Trump was mentally unfit to serve and warned of an "increasingly dangerous
decline" in his behavior based on what they called "objectively observable
signs of serious medical concern."
"Any so-called medical professionals engaging in armchair diagnosis or false
speculation for political purposes are clearly breaking the Hippocratic Oath
they've sworn to," Ingle said.
Just like any other patient, presidents get to choose what's disclosed about
their health, said Sara Rosenthal, a bioethicist at the University of Kentucky
who studies presidential health. Questions about transparency have become more
acute as America elects aging presidents like Trump and Biden, she said.
"I think we can expect very little disclosure about the true health status
of any president unless they're in perfect health," said Rosenthal, who has
suggested an independent medical organization to review and report on the
health of the president and those in the line of succession.
'Nothing should be hidden'
Trump's first medical report in his second term was released last April. In
July, he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in
older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Photographs have shown the
president with swollen feet, ankles, and calves, described by the White House
as a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency leading to "mild swelling" in his
lower legs.
Following his last publicly disclosed exam, described as a routine follow-up
last October, Trump's physician issued a one-page summary saying the president
was in "exceptional health" without divulging many specific results.
The frequency of Trump's medical checkups is not uncommon for someone his
age, according to S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois-Chicago, who
has studied the health of past presidents. It's part of a strategy to catch
problems while they're still treatable, Olshansky said.
Olshansky says the public deserves to see more than White House medical
summaries that "may be subject to editorial discretion." Full, unredacted
medical records should be made public, he said: "Nothing should be hidden."
The White House has not said whether Trump's visit will include any
procedures that may require anesthesia. Trump's last colon exam was in 2024 and
recommended a follow-up in three years.
If Trump were given anesthesia, Vice President JD Vance would be expected to
assume temporary control of the office under the 25th Amendment. That last
happened in 2021 when Vice President Kamala Harris was briefly sworn in while
Biden had a colonoscopy. Former President George W. Bush twice turned over
power to Vice President Dick Cheney.
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