‘Overweight’ Trump has sun damage after ‘frequent golf wins’, medical report finds
By Darlene Superville
West Palm Beach, Florida: Donald Trump’s doctor says the oldest man elected US president is “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief as the White House released results of Trump’s physical exam undertaken last week.
The 78-year-old Trump is nine kilograms lighter than at his check-up as president in 2020.
His BMI, or body mass index, which is a measure of one’s weight relative to height, is down to 28.0, which drops Trump to the category of overweight. The president’s BMI came in at 30.5 in 2020, which pushed him just over the edge into the obese category.
Donald Trump plays during the pro-am round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster in 2024.Credit: AP
His physician, Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, cited an “active lifestyle” that “continues to contribute significantly” to the Republican president’s wellbeing. Trump turns 79 on June 14.
In a three-page summary of Friday’s comprehensive exam, the doctor said Trump was “fully fit to execute the duties of commander in chief and head of state”. Trump weighed 101.6 kilograms at the check-up, down from 110.6 kilograms at that physical more than four years ago.
Barbabella wrote that Trump remained in “excellent health” with “robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and general physical function”.
Trump, pictured last week, has improved his cholesterol, takes regular medication and has a good resting heart rate, according to his doctor.Credit: AP
The doctor said Trump’s days were filled with multiple 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.
Trump’s cholesterol levels have improved over time, helped by the medications rosuvastatin and ezetimibe.
At his physical in January 2018, his total cholesterol was 223. In early 2019, the reading came in at 196, and it stood at 167 in 2020. Today, it is 140. Ideally, total cholesterol should be less than 200.
His blood pressure was 128 over 74. That is considered elevated, and people in that situation are likely to develop high blood pressure unless steps are taken to control the condition.
Trump has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute, in line with previous tests. A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 beats to 100 beats per minute, and generally, a lower rate implies better cardiovascular fitness.
Trump also takes aspirin, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The exam found minor sun damage to Trump’s skin and a few benign lesions, but no concerning lesions or growths. It also confirmed scarring on his right ear from a gunshot wound during an assassination attempt at a Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally in July 2024.
The summary noted that Trump previously had cataract surgery on both eyes, but gave no dates. A common procedure among aging people, the surgery typically involves removing a cloudy eye lens and replacing it with an artificial lens to help clear up vision.
In July 2024, according to the report, then-candidate Trump had a colonoscopy that found a benign polyp and diverticulosis. It’s a common condition in which the walls of the intestine weaken with age. It can lead to inflammation, though most people with it never experience any problems.
Trump in July, in the days after he suffered a gunshot wound in an assassination attempt.Credit: AP
Trump again passed a Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, a short screening test to assess different brain functions, Barbabella wrote, adding that Trump scored 30 out of 30. The test includes remembering a list of spoken words and listening to a list of random numbers and repeating them backward, among other questions.
Known as MoCA, it’s the same test Trump took 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 also was screened for depression and anxiety, and had normal scores on questionnaires for those conditions, according to the report.
Asked about the exam afterward, Trump said, “I think I did very well”.
He went directly from the hospital to Air Force One to fly to Florida for the weekend. He spoke to reporters mid-flight and said doctors had offered him “a little bit” of advice on lifestyle changes that could improve his health. He didn’t elaborate. He also said he had “a good heart, a good soul, a very good soul” and that he “got every answer right” on the cognitive test.
Trump may be the oldest person elected to the nation’s highest office, but he is four years younger than Democrat Joe Biden, who was 82 when his presidential term ended in January.
Despite raising persistent questions about Biden’s physical and mental capacity and repeatedly asserting that Biden did not know what he was doing, Trump has routinely kept basic details about his health secret.
Presidents have the right to keep their medical information private. Releasing the results of annual physicals, though, often helps reassure the public about their health.
Barbabella performed and supervised the medical examination of Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and said it included diagnostic and laboratory testing in addition to consultations with 14 specialists.
Barbabella is a decorated navy physician who specialises in emergency and tactical medicine and served several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has a Purple Heart and a Legion of Merit award, two of the military’s highest honours.
Barbabella is also the third consecutive osteopathic doctor to serve as physician to the president, following Biden’s doctor and one of the doctors who cared for Trump in his first term. Barbabella ran a naval health clinic in Havelock, North Carolina, before Trump tapped him for the job.
AP
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.