Details include the US President's improved weight, cholesterol, and also confirmed scarring on his ear from last July's assassination attempt
The oldest man elected US President is “fully fit” to serve as Commander-in-chief, Donald Trump‘s doctor has said, as the White House released results of his physical exam.
Navy Captain Sean Barbabella wrote that Trump remains in “excellent health” with “robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and general physical function”.
The report showed the 78-year-old is at 224lb (102kg), roughly 9kg lighter since his check-up as president in 2020, which showed him at 244lb (111kg) and bordering on obesity.
Trump turns 79 on 14 June.
The President’s body mass index (BMI) was down to 28.0, which drops Trump to the category of overweight.
His cholesterol levels have also improved over time, helped by the medications rosuvastatin and ezetimibe, the report said.
However it also reported some health issues, revealing Trump previously had cataract surgery on both eyes, but gave no date.
The procedure is common among ageing people, and involves removing a cloudy eye lens and replacing it with an artificial lens to help clear up vision.
The exam found minor sun damage to Trump’s skin and a few benign lesions, but no concerning lesions or growth.
It also confirmed scarring on Trump’s right ear from a gunshot wound during an assassination attempt at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
It also noted that his blood pressure was 128 over 74, a rate which is considered elevated.
In July 2024, according to the report, then-candidate Trump had a colonoscopy that found a benign polyp and the condition called diverticulosis – a common condition in which the walls of the intestine weaken with age.
Trump also passed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, a short screening test to assess different brain functions, Barbabella wrote.
It includes remembering a list of spoken words and listening to a list of random numbers and repeating them backward, among other questions.
Trump famously took the test in 2018 and later recounted in an interview in which he described reciting a list of words in order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”
The President was also screened for depression and anxiety, and had normal scores on questionnaires for those conditions, according to the report.
Asked about the exam on Sunday and how he stays healthy, Trump said, “Because I enjoy what I’m doing and I like the results”.
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“I think we’re making America great again and it makes me feel good. It probably keeps me happy,” he told reporters accompanying him on a flight back to Washington, DC from Florida.
Trump has routinely kept basic details about his health shrouded in secrecy, in contrast to the traditional transparency on medical issues that presidents of both major political parties have shown.
Presidents have the right to keep their medical information private. Releasing the results of modern annual physicals, though, often helps reassure the public about their president’s health.
The doctor said Trump’s days are filled with meetings, public appearances, media availabilities and “frequent victories in golf events”. Trump is an avid golfer who said he recently won tournaments played at clubs he owns in Florida
Barbabella, a decorated Navy physician, performed and supervised the medical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland.
The report said it included diagnostic and laboratory testing in addition to consultations with 14 specialists.
With input from agencies
