US President Donald Trump is notoriously cagey about his health, and now his personal spokesman has been forced to wade in after online speculation ran rife
Rumours about Donald Trump’s health are running rampant again, so much so that the White House has been forced to step in.
The president’s personal spokesperson has quashed speculation that POTUS is receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, after speculaton regarding his health erupted online over the weekend.
Concerns grew after the White House announced at 11:08am on Saturday that the 79-year-old Republican leader would not be making any public appearances for the remainder of the day. It’s an unusual move for Trump as he typically heads to Mar-a-Lago for golf at weekends.
POTUS, who was already 70 when he first took office, has long been criticised for being secretive over his health while poking fun at others’ physical conditions. At the time of his second White House victory, Trump hadn’t released any substantial health data since 2015, despite vowing in August 2024 to publish the findings of a recent examination.
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Now recent issues – including bruised hands, a painful-looking neck rash, awkward ‘memory lapses’ and a mysterious MRI scan – have left Americans with burning questions.
In true Trump fashion, he often brushes these fears away with showy brags about his ‘perfect’ health. Some of his claims have been questioned by medical experts. We take a look at every boast the president has made about his physical and mental vitality…
MRI riddle
In October, Trump said he underwent an MRI scan at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and according to him, the results were “perfect”.
The president said that his physician had deemed he was in “exceptional health” and even bragged: “The doctor said [it] was some of the best reports, for the age, they’ve ever seen.”
According to presidential physician Dr Sean Barbabella, the MRI was a “scheduled follow-up evaluation as part of his ongoing health maintenance plan and included advanced imaging, laboratory testing, and preventative health assessments.” The medic said at the time that Trump “continues to demonstrate excellent overall health.”
The MRI came a few months after the White House announced that POTUS had been diagnosed with a medical condition in his veins called chronic venous insufficiency after he noticed swelling in his legs.
But not long after he announced his ‘perfect’ scan, Dr Barbabella confirmed during an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he actually received a CT scan rather than an MRI, to “definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues.”
According to CNN, Trump underwent this exact study in 2018. Back then, the predisent would have most likely needed some sort of cholesterol-lowering medication as well as “aggressive lifestyle management recommendations” such as exercise. However, Trump has openly admitteed that he doesn’t do any exercise other than golf, as he finds it “boring”.
Asprin admission
Trump has admitted that he takes more aspirin than doctors recommed, and has done for the last 25 years.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal.
He said he takes 325mg of aspirin per day, rather than the 81mg dose recommended by doctors. “They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” Trump revealed. But he doesn’t want to switch his routine as he’s a “little superstitious”.
Guidance from the Mayo Clinic states that the risk of a heart attack and stroke goes up as you get older, and a low dose of asprin can help prevent both issues by preventing clots and thinning blood. But it warns that the risk of bleeding from taking asprin also goes up with age. The clinic says a daily dose for asprin therapy is between 75mg and 325mg.
‘Dozing off’
Trump recently bragged about the results from a cognitive test he underwent in December, but he has also been called out for appearing to fall asleep in meetings.
In a strange denial, POTUS clapped back at claims he nods off and said that the reason for the awkard gaffes is that photographers “sometimes take a picture of me blinking”.
Last month, the president could be seen struggling to keep his eyes open during a televised National Guard briefing in Memphis, as he was praised for helping lower crime rates. But he has strongly maintained that doesn’t nod off during public meetings, saying he closes his eyes at times because he finds it “relaxing”.
He once admitted that he finds Cabinet meetings “boring as hell”. He told New York magazine: “I’m going around a room, and I’ve got 28 guys – the last one was three and a half hours. I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I’m listening.”
“I’m hearing every word, and I can’t wait to get out,” he added.
Mental exam
During a speech in North Carolina last year, Trump revealed he had undergone some cognitive tests.
In a talk which was meant to be about the economy, he rambled: “I did something no other president’s ever done. I took cognitive tests because I know that and by the way, not easy. You get to those last questions, those last 10, 15 questions…and I aced them. And no other president’s taken a cog–… Could you imagine sleepy Joe taking a cognitive test?”
Trump then outlined the types of questions he was asked and said: “The first question is like, ‘What is this?’ And they show a lion, a giraffe, a fish, and a hippopotamus. And they say, ‘Which is the giraffe?’ I don’t think Joe would have gotten the first question right. He would say hippo. ‘I want the hippo’.
“I’ve taken now three cognitive tests. I’ve aced every single one of them,” Trump claimed, pausing as the crowd in applaused and cheered.
Bruises and make-up
The president has been photographed with large bruises on his hands in recent months. But the White House has been quick to dismiss concerns, suggesting that the bruising is a result of frequent handshaking.
In August 2025, a dark bruise was spotted on the president’s hand as he signed an executive order in the Oval Office, just days after footage of him playing golf revealed a bruised hand too. Another image at a separate event appeared to suggest that POTUS had applied makeup to the back of his hand.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, claimed that his bruises are consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which she maintained is “part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen”.
Trump has previously admitted he carries make-up with him, and told Wall Street Journal it’s incase his hand got “whacked”.
‘Living until 200’
Last month, during an event honouring the US Naval Academy football team, the US president was discussing questions about his health and claimed that his physician has said he is the healthiest president out of the past three.
“They said, ‘Who is the healthiest of the three?’ He said, ‘President Donald J Trump by far. If he didn’t eat junk food, he’d live to 200 years old.’ And I love this guy.”
Doctor’s shock
In 2015, ahead of his first presidential bid, Trump produced a glowing doctor’s letter that described his health as “astonishingly excellent”, praising the businessman turned politician’s “extraordinary” strength and stamina.
The letter, penned by Dr. Harold N. Bornstein, read: “To Whom My Concern: I have been the personal physician of Mr Donald J. Trump since 1980. His previous physician was my father, Dr Jacob Bornstein. Over the past 39 years, I am pleased to report that Mr Trump has had no significant medical problems.
“Mr Trump has had a recent complete medical examination that showed only positive results. Actually, his blood pressure, 110/65, and laboratory test results were astonishingly excellent. Over the past twelve months, he has lost at least fifteen pounds, Mr Trump takes 81 mg of aspirin daily and a low dose of a statin. His PSA test score is 0.15 (very low). His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary.”
The letter, which asserted that the fast-food-loving Trump would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”, continued: “Mr Trump has suffered no form of cancer, has never had a hip, knee or shoulder replacement or any other orthopaedic surgery.
“His only surgery was an appendectomy at age ten. His cardiovascular status is excellent. He has no history of ever using alcohol or tobacco products. If elected, Mr Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
However, things took a shocking turn in 2018 when Dr Bornstein alleged that President Trump had dictated the wording of the letter to him, which he wrote in just five minutes. Dr Bornstein claimed to CNN: “He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter. I just made it up as I went along.”
Describing the letter-writing process as an example of “black humour”, Manhattan-based Dr Bornstein recalled the series of events as being “like the movie ‘Fargo’: It takes the truth and moves it in a different direction.” The White House did not publicly respond to Dr Bornstein’s claims that the wording had been dictated by President Trump.