President Trump arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday for a medical exam, prompting more questions about the health of the 79-year-old commander in chief.
The White House has described the visit as an annual preventative medical and dental checkup. It will be Mr. Trump’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since returning to office in January 2025.
Mr. Trump’s annual physical took place in April 2025. His physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, declared him to be in exceptional health and fully fit to execute the duties of president. The report also said Mr. Trump achieved a perfect score on a cognitive assessment.
The president returned to Walter Reed in October for what the White House called a routine follow-up exam. After that visit, Dr. Barbabella issued a one-page summary saying Mr. Trump was in “exceptional health,” but did not disclose why it was deemed necessary for Mr. Trump to have a follow-up visit.
Mr. Trump turns 80 next month and is the oldest person elected U.S. president. His predecessor, President Biden, left office at 82, dropping out of the 2024 presidential race because of concerns about his age and mental acuity.
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released last month found that 59% of respondents say Mr. Trump doesn’t have the mental sharpness to lead the country, compared to 40% who said the president is mentally sharp for leadership. In addition, 55% of those surveyed said Mr. Trump is not in good enough physical health to serve as president, while 44% disagreed.
After the October exam, Mr. Trump revealed that he underwent an MRI scan. Neither the White House nor Mr. Trump immediately said which part of the body was examined or what the doctors were looking for.
An Oct. 13 letter written by Mr. Trump’s doctor did not mention specifically an MRI scan. It said the president underwent “advanced imaging tests” and “laboratory testing.” The letter declared Mr. Trump was in “excellent overall health.”
After nearly two months of demands for transparency, the White House released a memo from Mr. Trump’s doctor in December saying the president had an MRI of his heart and abdomen in October as part of a preventive screening for men his age. The statement said the advanced imaging procedure is “standard for an executive physical” in Mr. Trump’s age group.
Dr. Barbabella said the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was “perfectly normal.”
“The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function,” the doctor wrote.
Administrations have no legal requirements to be transparent about a president’s health, and doctors are bound by legal and ethical confidentiality. That means the results are released at the sole discretion of the president.
In July, Mr. Trump received a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency. It’s a condition in which the valves inside certain veins don’t function correctly, allowing blood to accumulate. He also has had bruising on his right hand that he has sought to cover up with makeup. Officials have said the bruising is because he shakes so many hands.
For weeks after Mr. Trump’s impromptu disclosure to reporters about the MRI, the White House offered few details on why doctors thought the procedure was necessary. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in December that the MRI, which stands for magnetic resonance imaging, was a “routine” part of his physical exam.
“President Trump received advanced imaging as part of his routine physical exam. The results were reviewed by the attending radiologists and consultants, and they all agreed President Trump remains in exceptional physical health,” Ms. Leavitt said.
For nearly all Americans, an MRI is not part of a routine annual physical exam.
However, twice-yearly visits with a physician are common for older adults to catch problems early and adjust medications as needed.
House Democrats last month sent a letter to Dr. Barbabella requesting that he release the full evaluation of Mr. Trump’s cognitive abilities. They argued that Mr. Trump’s words and actions in recent months, particularly his rhetoric surrounding the Iran war, have raised enough questions for the public disclosure of a “comprehensive cognitive assessment.”
“His apparently deteriorating condition has caused tremendous alarm across the nation (and political spectrum) about the President’s cognitive function and continuing mental fitness for the office of President, and prompted concerns about the President’s wellbeing,” wrote Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
The White House fired back, saying Mr. Trump remains sharp, but Democrats hid President Biden’s mental decline.
“Lightweight Jamie Raskin is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” the White House said in a statement. “President Trump’s sharpness, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the past four years when Democrats like Raskin intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people.”
