President Donald Trump’s physician has released new details about two MRI scans the president underwent at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October.
During a press briefing on Monday, Dec. 1, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read from a memo by White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella, explaining that Trump received both abdominal and cardiovascular MRIs during the visit.
Barbabella wrote that the results of both scans were “perfectly normal.” He noted that the MRIs were part of a “comprehensive physical exam,” adding that men in the 79-year-old president’s age group “benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
Barbabella described the MRIs as “preventative” and said, “This level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump’s age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health.”
While the White House released Barbabella’s written report, it did not share the actual MRI images. Officials had previously described Trump’s October trip to Walter Reed as a “follow-up evaluation.”
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The disclosure of the MRI details comes shortly after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz publicly urged Trump to “release the MRI results,” following an insult the president directed at him that used a derogatory term for people with intellectual disabilities.
In a late-night Thanksgiving post on Truth Social on Thursday, Nov. 27, Trump criticized “citizens” and “patriots” whom he claimed were “just plain STUPID” about immigration. While singling out the Somali community in Minnesota, Trump wrote: “The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both.” Walz, 61, responded on X by saying, “Release the MRI results.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Nov. 30, as he returned to Washington, D.C., from Florida, Trump said he would happily make his most recent physical results public. “If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” he said, calling the findings “perfect,” according to a clip shared by the White House.
When CBS News’ Weijia Jiang asked which part of his body had been scanned during the MRI testing, Trump replied, “I have no idea … it wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.” He then added, “I got a perfect mark, which you would be incapable of doing,” continuing a recent pattern of sharp remarks directed at women in the White House press corps.
Barbabella had previously summarized Trump’s Oct. 10 physical exam, noting at the time that the president underwent lab testing, advanced imaging and other “preventive health assessments” as “part of his ongoing health maintenance plan.” He did not initially specify what type of imaging had been performed or what conditions were being evaluated.
Leavitt has characterized Trump’s October visit to Walter Reed as a “routine yearly check up,” even though the White House had earlier announced that he completed his annual physical in April.
In July, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that “causes blood to pool in your leg veins, leading to high pressure in those veins,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Trump is currently the oldest person ever elected president of the United States and is on track to surpass President Joe Biden as the oldest sitting president before his term ends.
