Trump to get a ‘routine yearly’ medical check-up — his second in 6 months
President Donald Trump will undergo a “routine annual check-up” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, the White House announced Wednesday, ahead of a possible trip to the Middle East.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday that Trump will be at Walter Reed Medical Center for a planned meeting with military members.
“Once there, President Trump will go for his annual routine check-up,” before returning to the White House and possibly heading to the Middle East as part of negotiations for a peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
Trump discussed the potential trip during a White House roundtable discussion Wednesday afternoon, saying, “I’ll most likely go to Egypt, that’s where everyone is gathered right now.”
Trump underwent an annual physical exam at Walter Reed in April that included diagnostic and laboratory tests, and provided a first public look at the president’s health during his second term.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the president was undergoing an “annual check-up” after undergoing an annual exam six months earlier.
White House physician Sean Barbabella said in a memo at the time of the first exam that Trump was in “excellent health.”
“The President demonstrates excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully capable of serving as Commander in Chief and Head of State,” Barbabella wrote in the April memo.
The memo also mentioned cholesterol medication and said Trump was in the overweight category.
Trump, 79, became the oldest person elected president in November. He was just a few months older than former President Joe Biden when he was elected in 2020.
Trump’s health recently fueled online rumors after he was not seen publicly for several days leading up to Labor Day weekend.
The presence of a bruise on the back of her right hand, which sometimes appears to be obscured by makeup, has also been the subject of speculation in recent months.
In February, the White House said the bruise was from Trump “constantly working and shaking hands all day, every day.” His doctor later wrote in a report released in July that the bruise was a side effect of the aspirin treatment Trump used to prevent cardiovascular problems.
Trump has faced scrutiny in the past due to a lack of transparency in describing his medical condition.
His former physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, said Trump once dictated a statement, attributed to Bornstein, that described Trump’s health as “surprisingly excellent,” during his first presidential campaign in 2015. Trump also asked staff during a 2019 visit to Walter Reed to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of the visit that turned out to be a colonoscopy.
