What Is Chronic Venous Insufficiency, Trump’s Blood Vessel Condition?
What is the blood vessel disease that Trump is diagnosed?
After the photographs have shown that President Donald Trump with swollen ankles and deadly hands, the White House revealed that he had chronic venous insufficiency – a disease of blood vessels that affects traffic in the legs
US President Donald Trump meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House Oval Office on February 24, 2025.
Somodevilla chip photo / Getty Images
Publisher’s note (7/17/25): This story has been updated with additional reports and expert comments.
President Donald Trump received a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency, a disease of the vessels that brings blood back to the heart from the body.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed the diagnosis during a press conference on July 17 in response to public concerns raised by president’s photographs with significant swelling around her ankles and bruises on the hands. She added that Trump had undergone several types of diagnostic tests that studied the condition and his overall health. “The president remains in excellent health,” she said.
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Chronic venous insufficiency is “a very, very common thing, and for [President Trump’s] Age it is quite understandable that he has it, ”explains Monara Dini, attending physician at the University of California in San Francisco Center for Limb Prevation.
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Chronic venous insufficiency – a subset of a larger category of conditions called venous disorders – probably affects the legs and causes pain rather than more serious damage or systemic problems. The condition is quite common – perhaps affecting 5% of American adults, according to the Cleveland Clinic – and the risk of developing it increases as people age.
The network of ships transporting blood throughout the body includes two main types of tubes. The arteries carry freshly oxygenated blood from the heart of your body to the ends while the veins bring blood back to the heart and lungs. The arteries must resist high pressure and contain only between 10 and 15 percent of the body’s blood at once.
The veins are in much less pressure and can therefore have thinner walls and contain more blood. In addition, they contain unidirectional valves that keep blood flowing in the right direction, towards the internal organs. Chronic venous insufficiency is characterized by weakened valves in the veins of the legs allowing the blood to run back and pool under the strength of gravity, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. These valves flee more often as people age, says Dini.
The most common cause of chronic venous insufficiency is a blood clot that damages the valve. State symptoms mainly affect legs and include pain, cramps at night, swelling and discoloration, tough skin and open wounds called ulcers.
“The worst result of this condition is the ulcers that can develop,” explains Dini. “The skin retains so much liquid that it can at some point burst and break the skin, and you develop ulcers. This occurs a lot, and it is more devastating in the sense that it requires wound care. It can be painful and that changes life.”
Hand bruises are not a symptom of chronic venous insufficiency, says Dini.
The condition is more likely to occur in overweight or pregnant people, who have undergone a leg injury or blood clots or who have family members who have also treated chronic venous insufficiency. Other risk factors may include smoking and insufficient exercises.
As a rule, the management of chronic venous insufficiency is based on high leg maintenance, increased exercise and weight reduction. Compression therapy, which could include the use of compression socks or pumps, can also help to alleviate symptoms, says Dini. In some cases, doctors may recommend minor surgical interventions to repair or eliminate damaged tissues. Chronic venous insufficiency is however a progressive condition which cannot be healed or reversed.
