Trump, nearing eighty, to have annual physical amid scrutiny of recent ailments

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - May 26, 2026 06:22 pm IST - WASHINGTON White House physician Sean Barbabella said in a letter that the ailments were benign and that there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease. File | Photo Credit: Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump, who turns 80 next month, will undergo his routine annual physical on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), following a year of public attention on apparently minor health issues. Mr. Trump frequently casts himself as more energetic and fitter than Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor who left office last year at age 82 after facing questions about his fitness for the job. Still, recent photographs showing a blotchy neck rash have added to questions about Mr. Trump’s health, following images in July 2025 of swollen ankles and a bruised hand concealed with makeup. Mr. Trump, whose birthday is June 14, became the oldest person to assume the presidency when he began his second term in January 2025. Mr. Trump maintains an active golf schedule, but joked about his relative lack of exercise at a recent Oval Office event where his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the President walks nine miles (14.5 km) every time he goes golfing. “When I am not using the cart,” Mr. Trump said. White House physician Sean Barbabella has said Mr. Trump is using a common cream as “a preventative skin treatment” to address the neck rash, but he has not given details of the condition being treated. After the photographs of the President’s legs and hands were published last July, Mr. Barbabella said in a letter that the ailments were benign and that there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease. Mr. Trump’s leg swelling was from a “common” vein condition, and his hand was bruised from shaking so many hands, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Mr. Trump said last October that he had received a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam that month. The White House initially declined to share further details on the reason for the scan. Mr. Leavitt said only that it indicated “exceptional physical health” for Mr. Trump. The President later told reporters he got the MRI as part of a second physical exam. “Getting an MRI is very standard. What, you think I shouldn’t have it? Other people get it. ... I had an MRI. The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor,” Mr. Trump said. Medical experts noted that MRIs are not typically part of a routine physical and are usually prescribed to get detailed images of the body. In a memo after the second exam, Mr. Barbabella said the President’s “cardiac age — a validated measure of cardiovascular vitality via ECG — was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age”. Mr. Trump has also faced questions after appearing to fall asleep during several meetings, including a session with his Cabinet. “Some people said, he closed his eyes. Look, it got pretty boring,” Mr. Trump told laughing officials in February. “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell outta here.” Mr. Biden last year was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that spread to his bones, and underwent radiation therapy. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Trump, nearing eighty, to have annual physical amid scrutiny of recent ailments

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Trump, nearing eighty, to have annual physical amid scrutiny of recent ailments

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