WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Donald Trump had his annual physical on Friday, a check-up that may give the public its first details in years about the health of a man who, in January, became the oldest in U.S. history to be sworn in as president.
鈥淚 have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!鈥 Trump, 78, posted on his social media site ahead of the examination, which was conducted at Walter Reed 好色tv Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland.
How long the exam took wasn't immediately clear as Trump did not speak to reporters before or after it. All told, however, he spent more than five hours at the center before heading to Air Force One and flying to Florida for the weekend.
Despite long questioning predecessor physical and mental capacity, Trump has routinely kept basic facts about his own health shrouded in secrecy 鈥 shying away from traditional presidential transparency on medical issues. If history is any indication, his latest physical is likely to produce a flattering report that's scarce on details.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House while Trump was still being examined that the president was undergoing his 鈥渞outine and long-scheduled physical." She promised a 鈥渞eadout from the White House physician" that would be released 鈥渁s soon as we possibly can鈥 and suggested it'd be comprehensive.
鈥淚 can confirm the president is in very good shape,鈥 Leavitt said. She noted that the physical didn't require Trump being placed under anesthesia.
The finished medical report would be the first public information on Trump's health since in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Rather than release medical records at that time, Texas Rep. 鈥 a staunch supporter who served as his White House physician and once joked in the White House briefing room that Trump could live to be 200 if he had a healthier diet 鈥 describing a gunshot wound to Trump鈥檚 right ear.
In a subsequent interview with CBS last August, Trump said he鈥檇 鈥渧ery gladly鈥 release his medical records but never did.
Trump is three years younger than Biden. But on Inauguration Day of his second term in January, Trump was five months older than Biden was during his 2021 inauguration 鈥 making Trump to be sworn into office.
Presidents have privacy rights protecting their medical records just like ordinary citizens, and that means they have leeway over what details are released. Modern annual physicals, though, have often played key roles in offering the public a sense of the commander-in-chief's health 鈥 despite historic instances of concealing major medical issues, including President Woodrow Wilson's debilitating stroke in 1919.
Trump has long opted for offering few substantive details about his health. Before Jackson's memo, Americans hadn't seen key details since November 2023, when Dr. Bruce A. Aronwald released a letter to coincide with , saying Trump was in 鈥渆xcellent鈥 physical and mental health.
The letter, posted on Trump鈥檚 social media platform, lacks the basics 鈥 such as the Republican's weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any test. Instead, Aronwlad wrote that he'd examined Trump that fall and found his 鈥減hysical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional,鈥 while also noting that Trump had 鈥渞educed his weight.鈥
Trump was treated at Walter Reed for in 2020. During that time, Trump鈥檚 physician offered a rosy prognosis on his condition, though White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said some of Trump鈥檚 vital signs were 鈥渧ery concerning."
After Trump recovered, more details emerged that he had been sicker than he'd let on.
But Trump largely refused to say more about his health at the time, instead submitting to a pretaped, remote medical 鈥渆valuation鈥 and interview on Fox News Channel. That was conducted by Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor who had questioned Hillary Clinton's physical ability to serve as president in 2016 and later urged the Biden White House to test the then-president's cognitive acuity.
In November 2019, meanwhile, Trump's trip to Walter Reed for a physical was omitted from his public schedule, breaking the White House protocol of giving advance public notice of them.
The visit was revealed three days later, with Trump disclosing that he'd had The White House released a subsequent statement from the president鈥檚 then-personal physician, , saying it had been a 鈥減lanned interim checkup鈥 kept "off the record鈥 due to scheduling uncertainties.
Arguably, Trump's most famous past comments about his own health came during a television interview in July 2020, when he listed off 鈥淧erson. Woman. Man. Camera. TV" while attempting to demonstrate his cognitive abilities.
Trump said that a collection of those five nouns, or ones like them, stated in order, demonstrated mental fitness and were part of a cognitive test he had aced.
