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US President Donald Trump says he is in “perfect” health, takes more aspirin than doctors recommend, wears makeup on his hands to hide bruises and doesn’t exercise regularly because he finds it “boring.”
In a lengthy interview about his health, Trump also told the Wall Street Journal that he underwent a CT scan in October, after falsely telling reporters that he had undergone a more detailed MRI.
Trump, 79, is the oldest inaugurated president in U.S. history and his aging has come under increased scrutiny.
He denied to the Journal that he had difficulty hearing or fell asleep during recent events at the White House.
The newspaper said Trump “expressed irritation with public debate over his health.”
“Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” the president said at the start of an “impromptu phone call,” as the newspaper prepared to publish an article on his health.
Trump said he has been taking higher doses of aspirin than recommended for the past 25 years, even though he said it bruises easily.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning the blood, and I don’t want thick blood flowing through my heart,” Trump said.
He takes 325 mg of aspirin per day, instead of the 81 mg dose sometimes recommended by doctors.
“They would rather I take the smaller one,” Trump said.
But he doesn’t want to change his routine after so many years. “I’m a bit superstitious,” he says.
According to advice from the Mayo ClinicThe risk of heart attack and stroke increases with age, and low-dose aspirin helps prevent both by thinning the blood and preventing clots from forming. But the clinic warns that the risk of bleeding from aspirin also increases with age. It states that the daily dose for aspirin treatment is between 75 mg and 325 mg.
The president also spoke about the medical exam he received at Walter Reed National Medical Center, which he said was an MRI.
“It wasn’t an MRI,” Trump told the Journal. “It was less than that. It was a scan.”
A Trump doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said in a statement provided to the Journal that Trump underwent a CT scan, “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues” and that the tests revealed no abnormalities.
After Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older adults, he was advised to wear compression socks, but he refused.
“I didn’t like them,” Trump said, adding that he now got up from his desk more regularly, which had improved the swelling in his legs.
Still, the president said he prefers not to do any form of regular exercise, other than golf.
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” Trump said. “Walking on a treadmill or running on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do is not for me.”
The president claimed he did not fall asleep during public meetings, saying he sometimes closed his eyes because he found it “relaxing.” As for the bruises visible on his hands in some photos, Trump said he now wears makeup in case his hand gets “banged up.”
“I have makeup that is, you know, easy to put on and takes about 10 seconds,” he said.
Trump said he had no hearing problems, and when photographers took pictures of him while he appeared to be sleeping, he said “sometimes they take a picture of me blinking.”
“And they’ll catch me in a heartbeat.”
Barbabella said in the statement to the Journal that Trump was “in exceptional health and fully fit to serve as commander in chief.”
Trump’s predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden, withdrew from the 2024 election race after a heated debate with Trump raised questions about his age and mental acuity.
