In an interview published Thursday, President Donald Trump defended his energy and health and disclosed new details about an October medical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a disclosure that came after Trump and the White House previously delayed releasing information about what the imaging involved.
Trump told The Wall Street Journal that during the October examination he had a CT scan, not an MRI scan, and he said he regretted undergoing the advanced imaging because it raised public questions about his health. In the same interview, Trump said his doctors had framed the exam as a preventative measure, but he suggested that the decision backfired by prompting speculation that something might be wrong.
The White House on Thursday released a statement from Trump’s physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, explaining why the exam occurred and what the results showed. Barbabella said Trump agreed to meet with the staff and soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in October and that, to make the most of the president’s time there, the physician “recommended he undergo another routine physical evaluation to ensure continued optimal health.”
Barbabella said he asked Trump to undergo either a CT scan or MRI “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues,” and that the results were “perfectly normal and revealed absolutely no abnormalities.” A memo that the White House released in December had previously described the October evaluation as “advanced imaging” used as a preventative screening for a man his age.
Trump said he had initially described the imaging as an MRI but later said he did not know what part of his body had been scanned. The interview also included discussion of why he stopped short of taking additional preventive steps: Trump said he briefly tried wearing compression socks to address swelling but stopped because he “didn’t like them.”
The disclosures also came as the Trump administration and Trump himself continued to address questions that have circulated about his health and age. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Thursday statement that Trump’s doctors and the White House have “always maintained the President received advanced imaging,” adding that additional details were disclosed by Trump because he “has nothing to hide.”
Leavitt’s statement also linked visible bruising on Trump’s hand to activities and medication, saying the bruising was from “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin,” which Trump takes regularly to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Trump said he takes more aspirin than his doctors recommend, and he credited his long use of the medication for his resistance to changing the dosage, saying he is “a little superstitious,” while also describing what he believes the medication does.
Trump said in the interview that he takes 325 milligrams of aspirin daily. He also said “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood,” and he described his preference for continuing the regimen by saying he does not want “thick blood pouring through my heart.”
Trump additionally addressed questions that have arisen from recent video footage showing his eyes closed during White House meetings. He denied that he has fallen asleep, instead saying he was resting his eyes or blinking, including the line: “I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me.” He said cameras sometimes “catch me with the blink.”
He said he has never slept much at night and described his daily schedule in the White House residence, beginning his day early before moving to the Oval Office around 10 a.m. Trump dismissed questions about hearing as well, saying he only struggles to hear “when there’s a lot of people talking,” and he credited his energy to genetics, saying, “Genetics are very important,” and “I have very good genetics.”