By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose, Reuters
Trump in the past has released few details about his health. Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP
Donald Trump underwent his first physical examination of his second term on Friday, and the White House pledged to release full results for the man who in January became the oldest person to assume the US presidency.
Trump, who turns 79 in June and likes fast food so much he staged a photo op at a McDonald's during his campaign last year, spent several hours being poked and prodded by the doctors at Walter Reed Medical Centre in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.
"I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!" Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform on Monday, announcing the planned exam.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House would provide an update on the exam by the president's physician as soon as possible.
Trump in the past has released few details about his health.
"He is undergoing quite a few tests, imaging. Again, it's a yearly physical, so there's quite a lot that goes into it," she said, adding that Trump had not been scheduled to receive general anaesthesia as part of the exam.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump being rushed offstage after an assassination attempt. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP
The physical could offer the first clear look at Trump's condition since his ear was grazed by a bullet in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July.
His campaign released a report by Ronny Jackson, Trump's former White House doctor and a Republican Congressman from Texas, saying the injuries were superficial.
The White House typically determines what data will be released from a president's health exam.
Trump is not compelled to release any information, and there is no template for the presidential exam. Trump released only limited information about his health during his presidential campaigns.
During the 2024 election, Trump drew sharp contrasts with his predecessor, Joe Biden, now 82, claiming he was younger and fitter.
A White House doctor in 2018, when Trump was serving his first term, said the president was in overall excellent health but needed to shed weight and start a daily exercise routine.
Trump included a cognitive exam, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, as part of his physical during his first term, and his doctor later said he scored 30 out of 30.
Biden released detailed summaries of his physical exams while in office, but several books published in recent months have raised questions about his mental acuity in his final months in the White House.
The mental ability and age of both Biden and Trump were in focus during last year's election campaign, especially after Biden's disastrous performance in a debate with Trump in June, and Trump's increasingly rambling speeches at rallies.
- Reuters
