Donald Trump undergoes annual medical check-up – but report likely to be scarce on details
Donald Trump has had his annual medical check-up, although the US president has consistently chosen to keep basic facts about his health secret.
There is no guarantee the public will be told about the health of a man who, at the age of 78, was the oldest in US history to be sworn in as president.
“I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!” Mr Trump posted on his social media site.
He will be examined at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Washington DC, but he will have leeway over what details are released.
If history is repeated, his latest physical examination is likely to produce a flattering report that is scarce on details.
It represents the first potential opportunity to discover the status of Mr Trump’s health since an assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July last year.
Donald Trump was defiant after a failed assassination attempt in July. Pic: AP
At that time, Ronny Jackson, a staunch supporter who served as his White House doctor, wrote a memo describing a gunshot wound to Mr Trump’s right ear. He once joked that the president could live to be 200 if he had a healthier diet.
Despite Mr Trump promising in a CBS interview last August that he would “very gladly” release his medical records, he never did.
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During President Biden’s time in office, medical reports have typically included vital statistics like height, weight, heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol results, along with any medical symptoms. Other checks have included the vital organs and a neurological assessment.
Mr Trump has offered few details about his health over the years, despite repeatedly questioning the physical and mental capacity of his predecessor Mr Biden, who is three years older.
Trump contracted COVID-19 in 2020. Pic: Reuters
In 2020, President Trump contracted COVID-19. After his recovery, more details emerged that he had been sicker than he had let on.
In November 2023, Mr Trump’s doctor released a letter to coincide with Mr Biden’s 81st birthday, saying Mr Trump was in “excellent” physical and mental health.
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It said that his “physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional”, adding he had “reduced his weight”.
But there were a lot of details missing, including weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any tests.
Trump takes anti-baldness pills
During his first term in office, his first medical check-up as president included details of his daily anti-baldness pills. But subsequent medical examinations were less transparent.
In November 2019, Mr Trump underwent a medical examination which was not revealed until three days later. He would only say it was a “very routine physical”.
A year later, an examination found he was technically obese and was taking medication to treat high cholesterol.
Before Mr Trump first ran for office in 2015, the results of a medical examination were described as “astonishingly excellent” by his personal doctor.
Dr Harold Bornstein stated at the time that Mr Trump would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
The doctor later admitted to CNN that Mr Trump had dictated those words to him.
A former top college football player has died along with members of her family in a private plane crash in New York state.
The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B went down shortly after noon on Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, near the Massachusetts border, killing all six people on board.
Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) football player, who was named the 2022 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) woman of the year.
Her neuroscientist father, Dr Michael Groff, her mother, Dr Joy Saini, a urogynecologist, and her brother, Jared Groff, who worked as a paralegal, were also killed.
Former college football player Karenna Groff. File pic: AP
Karenna Groff’s boyfriend, James Santoro, and Jared Groff’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte, also died.
Mr Santoro’s father, John Santoro, said: “The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives… and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime.”
He described Karenna Groff and her relatives as “a wonderful family”.
“The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. We’re all personally devastated,” he added.
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They boarded Michael Groff’s private plane at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, a suburb of New York City, on Saturday morning to fly to Columbia County Airport.
But the aircraft crashed around 10 miles to the south and was left “compressed, buckled and embedded in the terrain”, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) official Todd Inman said.
Shortly before the plane came down, the pilot had radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport to say he had missed the initial approach and requested a new approach plan, he said.
Investigators obtained video of the final seconds of the flight, which “appears to show that the aircraft was intact and crashed at a high rate of descent into the ground,” he added.
A full accident report could take between 12 and 24 months to complete.
It comes days after a family of five Spanish tourists, including three children, were killed in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River on Thursday.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were forced to flee in the middle of the night during Passover after an alleged arsonist set fire to their residence, authorities said.
Mr Shapiro, a Democrat seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2am on Sunday to “bangs on the door” by police after a fire was allegedly set at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg.
Mr Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family were evacuated as the fire service tackled the flames.
Pic: Commonwealth Media Services
Pic: Commonwealth Media Services
“Thank God no one was injured,” he said in a post on X.
A 38-year-old man identified as Cody Balmer, from Harrisburg, was arrested later in the day.
Pic: Commonwealth Media Services
Pic: Commonwealth Media Services
He will face charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said.
“Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities,” Mr Shapiro said on X.
“Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”
Pic: Commonwealth Media Services
Charred wood and brick are visible at the Pennsylvania governor’s official residence. Pic: AP
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. Pic: Reuters
The suspect’s motive is still unknown.
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According to Pennsylvania police officials, he slipped over a fence around the property carrying homemade incendiary devices and evaded state troopers long enough to enter the residence, set it on fire and leave.
On Saturday, Mr Shapiro posted a picture of his family’s “seder” table as they celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
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