Donald Trump, the oldest person ever inaugurated as US president, submitted to a physical exam on Tuesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, prompting a fresh round of public speculation about his health. The 79-year-old, who turns 80 next month, took to social media to announce: “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.”
The three-and-a-half-hour visit was his fourth publicly disclosed checkup since taking office last year. Trump frequently compares his own vitality favorably to that of Joe Biden, his 82-year-old Democratic predecessor who left office last year amid similar questions about his fitness for the job.
Recent photographs showing a blotchy neck rash, along with July 2025 images of swollen ankles and a bruised hand concealed with makeup, have only added to the chatter. “I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No 1 concern,” Dr Jeffrey Kuhlman, a former White House physician who served under Presidents Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, told the Associated Press.
Trump, who maintains an active golf schedule but joked about his relative lack of exercise, said during a recent Oval Office event that his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, claims the president walks nine miles (14.5km) every time he golfs. “When I am not using the cart,” Trump clarified.
White House physician Sean Barbabella has said the neck rash is being treated with “a preventative skin treatment” cream, though he hasn’t specified the condition. After last July’s leg and hand photos surfaced, Barbabella said the ailments were benign, with no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease. The leg swelling was attributed to a “common” vein condition, and the hand bruising to excessive handshaking, per press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump revealed in October that he had received an MRI exam that month. The White House initially declined to share details, with Leavitt only saying it indicated “exceptional physical health.” Trump later said the MRI was part of a second physical. Medical experts note MRIs are not standard in routine checkups.
After that second exam, Barbabella reported that Trump’s “cardiac age” - measured via ECG - was approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.
No law requires presidential checkups or public disclosure of results, though it has been customary since the Nixon administration to release statements afterward. Trump regularly touts his mental fitness, even after appearing to doze off during several meetings, including a cabinet session. “Some people said, ‘He closed his eyes.’ Look, it got pretty boring,” Trump told laughing officials in February. “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell outta here.”