President Donald Trump is in 'exceptional health,' his doctor says,
after visit to Walter Reed
[October 11, 2025]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is in “exceptional health," his
physician said Friday after he underwent a checkup that included lab
tests and preventive health assessments at Walter Reed National Military
Medical Center.
Trump spent roughly three hours at the Bethesda, Maryland, hospital
earlier Friday for what his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, called a
“scheduled follow-up evaluation" that was a “part of his ongoing health
maintenance plan.” While there, Trump also got his yearly flu shot, as
well as a COVID-19 booster vaccine.
“President Donald J. Trump remains in exceptional health, exhibiting
strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and physical
performance,” Barbabella wrote in a one-page memo released Friday night
by the White House. The doctor noted in the memo that the evaluation
helped prepare for Trump's upcoming overseas trips and included advanced
imaging, lab testing and preventive health assessments.
The president is traveling to the Middle East this weekend and is
scheduled to fly to Asia at the end of this month.
Barbabella also said he evaluated Trump's cardiac age, which was about
14 years younger than his chronological age. Trump is 79 and was the
oldest U.S. president at his inauguration.
The White House this week initially described Trump's Walter Reed visit
as a “routine yearly checkup,” although Trump had his annual physical in
April. The president then called it a “semiannual physical."
Trump's April physical found that he was “fully fit” to serve as
commander in chief. The three-page summary of the exam done by
Barbabella then said he had lost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) since a medical
exam in June 2020 and said he has an “active lifestyle” that “continues
to contribute significantly” to the well-being of the president.
In July, the White House announced that Trump had recently undergone a
medical checkup after noticing “mild swelling” in his lower legs and was
found to have a condition common in older adults that causes blood to
pool in his veins. Tests by the White House medical unit showed that
Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when little valves
inside the veins that normally help move blood against gravity gradually
lose the ability to work properly.
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President Donald Trump departs Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark
Schiefelbein)
At the April physical, Trump also passed a short screening test to
assess different brain functions.
Presidents have large discretion over what health information they
choose to release to the public. Trump’s summary from his April exam
included information about his weight, body mass index, past
surgeries, mental health screenings, cholesterol levels and blood
pressure.
When spokesperson Karoline Leavitt discussed the results of his
chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis from the briefing room, she
noted that the White House was disclosing details of the checkup to
dispel rumors about Trump’s health. At the time, Trump was
frequently observed with bruising on his hand.
The Republican president has also repeatedly used the issue of
health as a political cudgel. He repeatedly questioned the mental
and physical health of his Democratic predecessor, President Joe
Biden, and pointed out that he has undergone cognitive testing that
Biden hadn’t.
Biden has brushed aside those criticisms and said he was fit to
serve, but he dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House after
a disastrous debate with Trump raised doubts about his fitness for
office.
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