Donald Trump's Physician Says the President's Surprise Physical Was Just ‘Routine’
Donald Trump’s physician attempted to squash rumors about the president’s health on Monday after an unscheduled weekend checkup.
The White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham released a memo Monday night stating the checkup was “routine” and that the president remains in good health.
Trump, 73, had an unplanned visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Saturday, which raised concerns. The White House said the president is healthy and that the visit was part of next year’s annual physical. The White House said the unscheduled examination was pushed ahead due to a busy 2020 schedule.
The appointment led many to speculate on social media whether the president was receiving urgent medical attention.
“Despite some of the speculation, the president has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues,” Conley said in the memo. “Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurological evaluations.”
The president’s annual physicals typically take place at the beginning of the calendar year and are announced ahead of time on his public schedule. Trump’s previous two physicals happened in January 2018 and February 2019, respectively.
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Conley said that “due to scheduling uncertainties,” the hospital visit was kept off the record.
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Conley also reported in the memo that Trump’s total cholesterol is 165, down from the reported 223 in January 2018 and 196 in February of this year. The new report also says Trump’s LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, is at 84, down from 122 earlier this year, according to the Associated Press.
Trump has been on cholesterol medicine throughout his tenure in the White House, with Conley increasing his dosage of a drug that combats cardiovascular disease earlier this year to drop those high cholesterol numbers.
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“After a little more than an hour of examination, labs and discussion, the president took a brief tour of the hospital to visit with some of the medical staff as well as speak with the family of a soldier undergoing surgery, after which he returned home to the White House,” Conley said.
Conley also said he will follow up with a more thorough evaluation of the president’s health after the new year.
Trump’s health has come into question before, especially after his longtime personal doctor, Harold Bornstein, alleged that Trump wrote his own medical report in 2015 when he was a candidate.
In the letter, Bornstein described Trump’s blood pressure as “astonishingly excellent” and declared, “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
Bornstein said in 2018 that Trump dictated the letter to the doctor as he and his wife were driving across N.Y.C.’s Central Park
