President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he underwent an MRI earlier this month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, describing the results as “perfect” but offering no details about why the test was performed.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One during his Asia trip, the 79-year-old acknowledged he had the imaging test as part of a second physical evaluation this year – following his previous exam in April. Trump said when asked whether he’d had an MRI: “I did. I got an MRI. It was perfect.” When pressed for more information, he declined to elaborate, saying only, “I think they gave you a very conclusive — nobody has ever given you reports like I gave you.” (per CNN).
According to the White House, Trump’s personal physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, oversaw the evaluation and reported that the president was in “excellent health.” In a memo following the visit, Barbabella wrote that Trump’s “cardiac age was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.” The doctor added that Trump underwent “advanced imaging, laboratory testing, and preventive health assessments,” noting that “comprehensive laboratory studies performed in conjunction with the visit were exceptional, including stable metabolic, hematologic, and cardiac parameters.”
In July, White House press secretary Karoline Levitt disclosed that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency—a condition in which the veins in the legs have difficulty circulating blood back to the heart, sometimes causing swelling, pain, and cramping. It remains unclear whether that diagnosis was related to the MRI performed this month.
While aboard Air Force One, Trump also addressed speculation about another presidential run. Although the 22nd Amendment bars presidents from serving more than two terms, he hinted he was not entirely ruling out the idea. Trump said, according to ABC News: “I would love to do it I have my best numbers ever. It’s very terrible. I have my best numbers. Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me. All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people, which [Democrats] don’t.”
Trump suggested that his continued political ambitions are tied to his health. “And if I didn’t think [the testing] was going to be good, either, I would let you know negatively. I wouldn’t run. I’d do something. But the doctor said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they’ve ever seen. It was perfect.”
Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com
