White House releases Trump's physical results, says he's in 'excellent health' but almost obese

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's annual medical exam showed he's in "excellent health" – though his doctor recommended he exercise more and lower the regular aspirin dose that has contributed to his widely noticed skin bruising.

At 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 238 pounds, according to the White House, his body mass index is close to the threshold for clinical obesity. But he's benefited from his busy daily workload and a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol, said his physician, Sean Barbabella.

"President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function," Barbabella wrote in the physical results. "His demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being."

The medical report's late-night release on Friday, May 29, followed a dayslong silence from the White House, which broke from its own precedent by not publicly publishing the results of Trump's regular physical sooner after his May 26 exam at Walter Reed Medical Center.

The checkup came amid mounting scrutiny of the president's health, particularly given recent flurries of late-night social media posts, as well as his at-times tired demeanor during official meetings. Trump, the oldest president ever inaugurated, will turn 80 on June 14.

A comprehensive neurological assessment showed the president demonstrated a "normal mental status," Barbabella said. He also had scarring on his right ear related to the gunshot wound from a 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Bruising related to handshaking, aspirin

Over the course of President Trump's second term in office, viral photos of noticeable bruising on his hands have sparked questions among many Americans. His hand has often been seen covered seemingly with makeup.

Trump's doctor confirmed he has suffered from "minor soft tissue irritation" caused by frequent handshaking. It's also related to the president's relatively high regular aspirin dosage. Trump has long taken the over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, which can be used to treat mild chronic pain and arthritis. He has publicly admitted that he takes more than his doctors recommend.

"They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart," he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Jan. 1. "I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?"

Trump still near obesity level

Trump has been overweight for many years. The results of his physical show he remains near the threshold of clinical obesity. (A body mass index, or BMI, score of 30 indicates obesity; Trump scores a 29.7 on the National Institutes of Health's BMI calculator.)

His doctor said his cardiac age was that of someone roughly 14 years younger. Still, he recommended that the president lose weight and exercise more.

That may be a tall order. In the bestselling 2016 book Trump Revealed, his biographers noted he "believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted."

"All my friends who work out all the time, they’re going for knee replacements, hip replacements," Trump told The New York Times Magazine in a 2015 profile. "They’re a disaster."

While the president often points to golf as his preferred form of physical activity, his lack of affinity for exercise doesn't seem to have fundamentally changed. A few weeks ago, during an Oval Office event touting the reinstatement of the presidential fitness test in American schools, he joked that he works out "so much."

"Like, about one minute a day, max," he said. "If I'm lucky."

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social