Trump defends health in new interview, details screening he had

WASHINGTON — President Trump defended his energy and health in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and revealed that he had a CT scan, not an MRI, in an October exam about which he and the White House have delayed providing details.

Trump, in the interview, said he regretted undergoing advanced imaging of his heart and abdomen during an October visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center because it raised public questions about his health. His doctor said in a memo released by the White House in December that he had “advanced imaging” as a preventative screening for men his age.

Trump initially described it as an MRI, but said he did not know what part of his body he had scanned. A CT scan is a faster form of diagnostic imaging than an MRI, but offers less detail on differences between tissues.

The president’s physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said in a statement released Thursday by the White House that Trump underwent the exam in October because he planned to travel to Walter Reed to meet with people who worked there. Trump had already undergone an annual physical in April.

“President Trump has agreed to meet with the staff and soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in October. To make the most of the President’s time at the hospital, we have recommended that he undergo another routine physical evaluation to ensure optimal health is maintained,” Barbabella said.

Barbabella said he asked the president to undergo either a CT scan or an MRI “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular problems” and that the results were “perfectly normal and revealed absolutely no abnormalities.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday that the president’s doctors and the White House have “always maintained that the president received advanced imaging” but said “additional details about the imaging were released by the president himself” because he “has nothing to hide.”

“In retrospect, it’s a shame that I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump said in a Wall Street Journal interview published Thursday. “I would have been a lot better off if they hadn’t done it, because the fact that I took it was like, ‘Oh my God, is something wrong?’ Well, everything is fine.

The 79-year-old became the oldest person to take the oath of office when he was sworn in as president last year and has been sensitive to questions about his health, especially as he has repeatedly questioned his predecessor Joe Biden’s fitness for office.

Biden, who turned 82 in the final year of his presidency, was tenacious at the end of his term and during his abandoned bid to win re-election due to increased scrutiny of his age and mental acuity.

But questions have also swirled around Trump’s health this year, as he has been seen with bruising on the back of his right hand, visible despite a layer of makeup on top, as well as noticeable swelling at his ankles.

The White House said this summer that the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older people. This condition occurs when the veins in the legs cannot properly carry blood to the heart and it accumulates in the lower legs.

In the interview, Trump said he briefly tried wearing compression socks to treat the swelling, but stopped because he didn’t like them.

The bruising on Trump’s hand, according to Leavitt, is due to “frequent handshakes and the use of aspirin,” which Trump takes regularly to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

He said he takes more aspirin than his doctors recommend, but said he resisted taking less because he had been taking it for 25 years and was “a little superstitious.” Trump takes 325 milligrams of aspirin per day, according to Barbabella.

“They say aspirin is good for thinning the blood, and I don’t want thick blood flowing through my heart,” Trump said. “I want fine blood to flow into my heart. Does that make sense?”

Trump, in the interview, denied falling asleep during White House meetings when cameras filmed him with his eyes closed, insisting instead that he was resting his eyes or blinking.

“I’m just going to finish. It’s very relaxing for me,” he said. “Sometimes they take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they catch me blinking. »

He said he never slept much at night, a habit he also described during his first term, and said he started his day early at the White House residence before moving to the Oval Office around 10 a.m. and working until 7 or 8 p.m.

The president dismissed questions about his hearing, saying he had trouble hearing only “when there are a lot of people talking,” and said he had a lot of energy, which he attributed to his genes.

“Genetics are very important,” he said. “And I have very good genetics.”