As President Donald Trump approaches his 80th birthday on June 14, a Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 55% of Americans now believe his health is insufficient for him to serve effectively — nearly double the 28% who held that view three years ago.

Trump made his third in-person visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in just over a year on May 27. His physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, released a memo over the weekend declaring that Trump “remains in excellent health.” Trump posted on Truth Social after the visit: “Just finished my 6 month physical at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Everything checked out PERFECTLY. Thank you to the great Doctors and Staff! Heading back to the White House.”

The White House has described each visit as routine. Trump’s first physical of his current term was in mid-April 2025. He returned in early October for what was characterized as a “semiannual physical.” A brief dental appointment followed in early January, and another dental appointment came earlier in May, before the May 27 examination — his third full physical in 13 months.

Trump’s account of medical findings from the October 2025 visit has shifted over time. In December, he told reporters he had undergone an MRI but was uncertain which body part had been scanned. “It wasn’t the brain,” he said, “because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”

Barbabella subsequently issued a memo stating the scan had examined Trump’s heart and abdomen and that imaging in both areas was “perfectly normal.” In January, Trump revised his account, saying the procedure had been a CT scan, not an MRI.

“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took [the scan] because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump said. “I would have been a lot better off if [I] didn’t, because the fact that I took it said: ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”

The explanation for bruises on Trump’s hands has also shifted. In July 2025, Barbabella said bruises on Trump’s right hand were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking.” Photographs subsequently showed bruises on both hands.

Trump turns 80 on June 14, making him the oldest person to have assumed the presidency. Joe Biden was 82 when he left office in 2025.

Presidents are not legally required to release their medical records. Former labor secretary Robert Reich, who is also turning 80 next month, wrote in a Guardian column published June 1 that the frequency of medical visits and shifting explanations raise questions about the president’s capacity. “Even ‘PERFECTLY’ is a relative concept for someone ending his seventh decade and beginning his eighth,” Reich wrote.

Trump’s public statements in recent months have extended beyond his medical visits. On Easter morning, he wrote on social media: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” appending an Islamic prayer to the post. The following week, Trump threatened that unless Iran struck a deal within 12 hours, its “whole civilization would die.”

After Iran shot down two U.S. airmen, aides receiving minute-by-minute updates “kept Trump out of the Situation Room because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful,” a senior administration official said.

In late May, Trump posted about Pope Leo: “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” During a subsequent question-and-answer session with reporters, Trump said: “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess. … I am not a fan of Pope Leo.” Days later, Trump posted an AI-generated portrait of himself styled as a medical figure. When the image drew criticism, he said he was portraying himself “as a doctor, making people better.”

At a cabinet meeting, Trump also made comments targeting Somali Americans and Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota. “The Somalians, what they’ve done to Minnesota, the Somalians, crooked as hell. Ilhan Omar, crooked as hell,” Trump said. “They’re all crooks, and we got them, we got them. Now we’re putting the clamps on.”

In December, Trump had said: “The Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country.” Of Omar, he said: “She shouldn’t be allowed to be a congresswoman, and I’m sure people are looking at that. She should be thrown the hell out of our country.”