NEED TO KNOW
- Donald Trump will attend his “routine yearly” physical exam on Oct. 10 — his second in six months
- Trump’s first annual physical was in April, at which time the White House physician said Trump was in “excellent health”
- The president’s health has been at the center of speculation, especially with his recent diagnosis and a recurring bruise on his hand
Donald Trump is planning to get his “routine yearly” medical check-up — his second since April.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement on Oct. 8 indicating that the president, 79, will stop by the hospital on Friday, Oct. 10, for a routine exam.
“On Friday morning, President Trump will visit Walter Reed Medical Center for a planned meeting and remarks with the troops,” Leavitt’s statement read. “While there, President Trump will stop by for his routine yearly check up.”
Leavitt, 28, added that Trump is “considering going to the Middle East shortly thereafter,” as peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue to progress.
The press secretary’s seemingly ordinary statement immediately raised questions, because Trump already underwent his annual physical exam on April 11, which was widely reported on at the time.
Trump’s health has repeatedly made headlines since his return to the White House in January, as his rambling speeches and physical signs of aging often dominate the social media conversation. At one point over the summer, the internet was even convinced that he had died after he went a few days without making a public appearance.
Following Trump’s previous physical exam in April, his newly hired White House physician, Sean Barbarella, declared that the president is “fully fit” to serve in office, claiming his “active lifestyle” was bolstering his overall health.
Trump, who became the oldest American to take the presidential oath at 78 years and 7 months, was 6-foot-3 at the time of the visit and had lost 20 pounds since his last physical as president in 2020.
“President exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State,” Barbabella wrote in a summary of Trump’s visit.
Trump made an unexpected return to the doctor in July, after a photo of his swollen legs and ankles went viral online.
He was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which Leavitt described as a “benign and common condition” for people over 70. CVI is characterized by poor blood flow from the legs back to the heart, per Cleveland Clinic.
After Trump’s diagnosis was made public, Barbarella insisted, “The president remains in excellent health.”
Throughout his second term, Trump has been seen multiple times with bruising on his right hand, often covered with makeup.
The White House has claimed that the bruising — which was spotted as early as February — is the result of “shaking hands all day everyday.”
Sharing a report after a president’s physical exam is a tradition for White House physicians that has grown increasingly political over time, especially with Trump and President Joe Biden — the oldest two presidents in history.
Throughout Biden’s four-year presidency, his annual physical exams resulted in the disclosure of numerous conditions — sensory peripheral neuropathy, sleep apnea and GERD among them — but notably did include results for cognitive exams, which his doctor claimed he did not need.
“He continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote of Biden, then 81, in February 2024.
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After leaving office, prominent Democrats and anonymous administration officials began opening up about their private concerns that Biden had suffered a noticeable cognitive decline as president, inspiring an entire best-selling book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson called Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.
In the months after leaving office, Biden was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, and had a skin cancer spot removed from his forehead.
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