US President Donald Trump’s health has drawn consistent scrutiny over the past few months, courtesy of him displaying bruising on his hand, rashes on his neck, and swelling in his feet during public appearances.
His visits to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center three times in 13 months commanded further attention and fueled speculation that he may be dealing with several serious ailments.
Highlights
- Trump has repeatedly drawn attention for visible signs of ill health, including swollen feet, a persistent neck rash, bruising on his hand, and three hospital visits in 13 months.
- During his latest medical assessment, he reportedly consulted nearly two dozen specialists, a number exceeding what has been publicly documented for any previous US president.
- Although the White House declared him fit, experts have questioned the disclosures, arguing that the public still lacks a fully transparent account of his health status.
Now, a filing by Trump’s personal physician, Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, has revealed the number of specialists he met during his latest visit to the hospital on May 26, which was more than any past president’s recorded visit.
The revelation has deepened the mystery surrounding Trump's current state of health.
An army of doctors examined Trump during his latest hospital visit
Image credits: Getty/Samuel Corum
According to Barbabella’s May 29 filing about Trump’s visit to Walter Reed days prior, he met with 22 specialists
Joe Biden, who served as the US president between January 2021 and January 2025, saw a group of 20 doctors for his medical examination in February 2024.
In 2001, then-President George W. Bush saw 12 specialists, and his father, George H.W. Bush, saw 5 specialists in 1989.
Despite seeing so many doctors, Trump was not found to have any condition that raised concern, according to Barbabella.
Image credits: Getty/Win McNamee
The White House physician’s report stated that Trump currently weighs 238 pounds — 14 pounds heavier than last year — and has a blood pressure of 105/71 mmHg.
It added that the president showed no abnormalities during the 10-minute-long Montreal Cognitive Assessment meant to diagnose dementia.
An AI-enhanced ECG analysis further estimated his cardiac age to be approximately 14 years younger than his biological age.
Image credits: Getty/Chip Somodevilla
His lower leg swelling, caused by chronic venous insufficiency, a condition where the veins in the legs fail to pump blood back up to the heart, however, was reported to have persisted.
Notably, the condition is normal in older adults.
Image credits: Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
The bruising on the back of his hands was attributed to “minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking” and was labeled a “benign effect” of aspirin, which he takes for his cardiovascular health.
Other than aspirin, the report mentioned rosuvastatin and ezetimibe as his current medications, both for cholesterol control.
Image credits: MelissaToth2020
Image credits: Getty/Bloomberg
“President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function,” the summary of the report read.
It declared him “fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander in Chief and Head of State.”
However, several medical experts disagree with that assessment.
Multiple doctors, including a former White House physician, alleged the public was not being told the full story about Trump’s health
After Trump’s Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level came noticeably low during his first term in office in 2016, his personal physician, Harold Bornstein, told The New York Times that he had been taking finasteride to cure it.
As the medicine’s absence in the latest updates made headlines, the White House rushed to provide clarity, stating, “The current report reflects all medications deemed clinically relevant to disclose at this time. No additional undisclosed conditions or procedures materially affecting his health status were omitted from his report.”
In an interview with The Washington Post on June 4, Robert Klitzman, a psychiatrist who leads Columbia University’s master’s program in bioethics, said that the White House’s refusal to be more open about Trump’s use of finasteride is suspicious.
Image credits: White House
Klitzman noted that the medicine’s use has been linked with an increased risk of depression, which could affect Trump’s performance as president, thus making it “crucial” for the White House to be more transparent about it.
“We want to make sure that we’re getting the full story in order to know that whoever occupies a position can sufficiently carry out the responsibilities of the office,” he said.
Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a physician to Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, said it is not uncommon for the White House to withhold information about those who govern the country.
“After a decade of delusion, deceit, denial, or delay from administrations and White House physicians regarding presidential evaluations, my bar [for transparency] is pretty low,” he shared.
Kuhlman called for Trump to have his cognitive abilities assessed, noting that “80-year-olds do have a decline in memory, reasoning, speed of processing, and spatial visualization.”
Presidents are not legally obliged to disclose their health records.
Trump has bragged about receiving strong cognitive scores, but Americans have their doubts
Image credits: White House
“I don’t mind being called a brilliant, total tyrant d**tator, but I don’t want to be called dumb,” Trump said at a rally in New York in May, adding that “all presidents and vice-presidential candidates should be forced to take a cognitive test and a test on intelligence.”
Trump also cited past diagnoses from his physicians, including Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served him during his first term and allegedly told him he was healthier than his predecessors.
Image credits: Getty/Bloomberg
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted in April about Americans’ confidence in Trump’s fitness for office, however, registered a decline.
Image credits: White House
44% of Americans believed he was physically sound to continue as president, a 10-percentage-point drop from responses recorded last September.
Moreover, 40% of Americans believed Trump has the mental sharpness to serve as president, which was 7 percentage points lower than last year.
"Whatever Trump says about his health, assume the opposite," a netizen said
