Trump is eager to disclose details on others’ health – but not his own | Donald Trump

WWhen Donald Trump revealed that Republican Congressman Neal Dunn would be “dead by June” if it weren’t for the White House doctors who treated the representative’s apparently terminal condition, many were shocked by his revelation.

The president’s comments last week, which came during a meandering news conference with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Kennedy Center leaders, came after Trump pressed the top politician for details about Dunn’s health.

The response from Johnson, who reportedly told donors a few weeks ago that Dunn might have a life-threatening health problem, suggested he was surprised by Trump’s comment. He said, “OK, it wasn’t public, but yeah, OK. It was sinister, that’s what I was going to say.”

Trump’s statement drew criticism and even surprised some observers accustomed to his shock antics when it comes to other political figures. But for years, Trump has boasted about his physical and mental vitality — and mocked the physical condition of others — despite what some have described as an intense distrust of his own health, including a recent neck rash.

His statement regarding White House doctors also coincides with the fallout from the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, leading to rising health care costs for millions of Americans who could only dream of world-class care at the best of times. And then there is the question of American political culture: what should America think of a talkative, unfiltered head of state?

Veterans of politics and etiquette tell the Guardian that such a disclosure, while not surprising, is unseemly and could further normalize crudeness in American public life.

Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an etiquette expert based in San Francisco, told the Guardian that there are very few situations in which disclosing information about a person’s health is acceptable. “I really don’t think it’s appropriate at any time,” Randall said.

One of the few appropriate circumstances might involve an agent parent with a terminal diagnosis, she said. A person might want to tell their sister or a close family member, for example, “and you know that relative would like to see that sibling one more time.”

Randall said it was “an extremely generous gesture” for Trump to offer medical treatment to Dunn, but noted that etiquette generally dictates that people don’t make their generosity known.

She also said the public was not aware of any behind-the-scenes conversations between Trump and Dunn about this disclosure, so perhaps they had reached an agreement.

That said, Randall felt the tone seemed wrong. She alluded to Trump’s comment about helping Dunn, which was, “I did it for him first and for the votes second. But that was a close second, actually.”

“Because this particular president is joking and throwing random things around, I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “If he says, ‘I really care about him,’ and then adds, ‘Yes, but I want his vote,’ that can come across as very cold and calculated.”

Brittany Martinez, a Republican strategist and executive director of Principles First, expressed similar feelings about propriety and said she thought the disclosure was “unnecessary.”

“I think it is simply inappropriate for a president of the United States to disclose the health diagnosis of a member of Congress.

“Luckily, it seems he is in better health. This is great news for him and his family,” she said. But “I thought it was strange and inappropriate that he would intervene – and not only intervene, but obviously use the ‘he would be dead by June’ language.”

However, there are unlikely to be any political consequences.

“The president has said much worse,” Martinez said. “Of course, I think it’s pretty heinous, but no, I think he’s going to have no reaction, essentially, to it.”

Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist, said this type of behavior is “pretty much the story of Trumpland” and doesn’t anticipate blowback.

“It’s another drop in the ocean. It’s a bit of the same thing. What are people waiting for?” he said. “I don’t expect anything else.”

That said, even if people are accustomed to this type of behavior, it could affect the way ordinary citizens behave.

“It lowers the bar,” he said. “People in public life are expected to reflect their behavior much more. They are expected to be models of relevance and integrity and decency, and that decency is defined by how they treat others.

“When it changes, at one point it becomes funny, but after a while it becomes less funny, it becomes dangerous and it allows behavior that should not be tolerated to be tolerated.

“When leaders say things, they tend to have an impact, no matter what they think – because they are leaders. »

Dunn’s office did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. Florida Politics reported that hours before Dunn posted a video about X saying he felt “lucky to be here,” his office “declined a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.”

Asked for comment, a rep for Johnson noted the speaker’s earlier response to a question about Trump’s revelation: “I spoke to Neal last night. He’s absolutely fine, he’s got a great new life, and he feels very healthy and he’s doing great.”

The White House bristled at questions about whether it was appropriate as well as an effort to follow up on questions about his rash. Several weeks ago, the White House said the Guardian’s questions about creams and skin conditions, including whether Trump wore sunscreen, were “false and slanderous allegations.”

The White House also said Trump and chief of staff Susie Wiles discussed publicly disclosing her breast cancer diagnosis before doing so.

“President Trump’s quick wit, unparalleled energy and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we have seen over the past four years, when failed media outlets like the Guardian intentionally concealed Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people,” said Olivia Wales, a White House spokeswoman.

“Unlike the Biden White House, President Trump and his entire team have been completely open and transparent about the President’s health, which remains exceptional. President Trump coordinated the TRUTH message about Susie with her and she approved it.

“This is not a problem with a fake journalist. It is by now spreading these false and desperate stories about President Trump that Americans’ trust in the media has fallen to a new historic low,” the Wales statement also said.

As for the rashes, they pointed to a statement from Sean Barbabella, the White House physician, that Trump “uses a very common cream on the right side of his neck, which is a preventative skin treatment, prescribed by the White House physician” for a week, with the rash expected to subside for several more weeks.