President Donald Trump saw 22 medical specialists as part of his annual medical exam last month, nearly doubling the number from his past check-ups and setting an apparent presidential record, according to a new analysis.
Medical experts told The Washington Post, which scrutinized the president’s exam results, that the number was unusual, the latest factor that could provoke health concerns around the 79-year-old commander in chief, the oldest person to ever assume the U.S. presidency.
“It is an extraordinary number,” Jonathan Reiner, a longtime cardiologist for former vice president Dick Cheney, told the paper.
The White House told the Post that some generalist doctors were part of the 22-person specialist count.
The president’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, wrote after the May health exam that Trump “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function.”
And Trump himself sounded a similar message, declaring on Truth Social that “everything” had “checked out PERFECTLY.”
Observers closely scrutinized the exam, given that it came after an unusual mid-year medical screening Trump got in October after his annual physical earlier that year.
One doctor told The Wall Street Journal that the exam could’ve been more forthcoming about the results of Trump’s cardiovascular testing.
“If I was creating a report to send to another physician, I would have mentioned a little bit more about the carotid ultrasound,” Dr. William Shutze, a Texas vascular surgeon, said. “What amount of plaque there is going to be—because almost all of us are going to have some buildup there.”
Others noted that, according to Trump’s medical records, he appears to no longer be taking a common hair loss prevention drug.
Health concerns about Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, previously the oldest man to take the White House, helped sink the Democrat’s campaign.
A poor showing by a befuddled Biden in the debates was the final nail in his 2024 campaign coffin, and aides and party leaders were subject to months of scrutiny and a bombshell book over whether they concealed Biden’s declining health and mental fitness from the public.
Critics have accused President Trump of suffering from a similar decline, pointing to the frequent bruises that appear on his hands, and voters appear to have concerns of their own.
In a poll last month from The Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos, 59 percent of respondents said they don’t believe that Trump has the mental acuity to serve as the president and another 55 percent said they do not think he is physically healthy enough to carry out his duties.
Online commentators recently mocked President Trump for appearing to fall asleep at the NBA Finals.
