Inside Donald Trump’s Annual Physical: What His Latest Health Report Really Says

Throughout his political career, Trump has controlled the timing and content of his health disclosures. While past elections were accompanied by brief statements and general endorsements of his fitness, full documentation has been rare.

This latest report departs from that approach. It has drawn attention not only because of what it contains but also because of the individuals and history connected to its publication. The conversation around Trump’s health now extends well beyond the exam room.

In 2024, at 78 years old, President Donald Trump became the oldest major-party nominee in U.S. history. This followed President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, positioning Trump as the senior candidate in the general election.

This development renewed focus on his physical and cognitive fitness as he sought a return to the White House. On April 11, 2025, less than three months into his second term, Trump underwent his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, the president’s attending physician, supervised the evaluation and later compiled the findings into a memorandum addressed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The report, dated April 13, described a comprehensive exam.

The exam included standard lab diagnostics, urinalysis, and assessments from 14 different medical specialists. It also confirmed a full neurological screening, which evaluated Trump’s mental status, motor skills, sensory responses, reflexes, and emotional indicators such as depression and anxiety.

“President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” Dr. Barbabella stated. The report also stated that his urinalysis was normal.

In addition to the clinical findings, the report remarks on the president’s daily schedule, which includes meetings, public appearances, media availability, and regular participation in golf. The assessment concludes that the president remains fully fit to carry out the duties of Commander-in-Chief.

The memo also listed several longstanding medical conditions that remain under control. These included high cholesterol, seasonal allergies, a previous COVID-19 infection, rosacea, actinic keratosis, benign skin growths, diverticulosis, and a non-cancerous colon polyp.

Trump’s ongoing treatment regimen was outlined as well. According to the report, he currently takes rosuvastatin and ezetimibe to manage cholesterol levels, aspirin for cardiovascular protection, and mometasone cream to treat skin inflammation when needed.

Unlike previous election-year statements that offered broad declarations of health, this memo sticks to specifics. “His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being,” stated Dr. Barbabella’s report. “The President has consented to release the physical exam findings to the public.”

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump declined to release a comprehensive medical report, despite public calls for transparency and repeated promises to do so. Instead, his campaign pointed to earlier letters from his physician and from Dr. Ronny Jackson, who treated him after the July 13, 2023 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

One statement released by physician Bruce Aronwald on November 20, 2023, coinciding with former President Biden’s 81st birthday, declared that, as of September 2023, Trump was in “excellent” health. Aronwald’s note did not reference any tests or specific treatments.

In contrast, former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign published a detailed two-page health summary in October 2024. Authored by her physician, Dr. Joshua Simmons, it included medical history, lifestyle details, and a family health overview.

Simmons wrote that Harris “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.” The timing of that release placed added pressure on Trump’s team, which had avoided releasing any comprehensive report during the election.

No new clinical documentation was provided during that period. On October 12, 2024, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung issued a statement defending the decision.

“President Trump has voluntarily released updates from his personal physician, as well as detailed reports from Dr. Ronny Jackson, who treated him after the first assassination attempt. All have concluded he is in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief,” it read.

“He has maintained an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history, whereas Kamala Harris has been unable to keep up with the demands of campaigning,” Cheung added. “Her schedule is much lighter because, it is said, she does not have the stamina of President Trump.”

The campaign also circulated Dr. Jackson’s earlier assessments from his time as White House physician, including the 2018 cognitive screening. That result was frequently cited by Trump and his allies, particularly during moments when his opponents’ mental acuity was questioned.

No new cognitive exam was publicly reported between 2018 and 2025. Dr. Jackson, who served as White House physician under both Presidents Obama and Trump, was long regarded as one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on matters of health.

During his time as presidential physician, Jackson publicly praised Trump’s condition and famously stated that the president “could live to be 200 years old” if he improved his diet. Trump later attempted to nominate Jackson for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a move that failed amid controversy and a whistleblower complaint.

In July 2022, two years before Trump’s latest physical, the U.S. Navy formally reclassified Jackson’s retirement rank. Originally retired as a rear admiral (lower half), Jackson was retroactively demoted to the rank of retired Navy captain following a Pentagon inspector general’s investigation that substantiated multiple allegations.

The report documented multiple violations, including inappropriate conduct while on duty, use of prescription sleep aids, drinking alcohol with subordinates, and making sexually inappropriate remarks to a female staff member.

Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley stated that Jackson’s conduct was “not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022.”

The demotion also affected Jackson’s pension and status in military circles. Nonetheless, Jackson has continued to refer to himself publicly as a rear admiral. His official congressional biography and public statements have not reflected the updated rank.

Commenting on this discrepancy, military analyst Katherine L. Kuzminski stated, “While it is possible that others will mistakenly refer to him as ‘Admiral’ in perpetuity, he himself should not make that mistake.” Despite the Navy’s administrative action, Trump continued to publicly praise Dr. Jackson in the months that followed.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in August 2022 — just days after Jackson’s demotion became effective — Trump referenced him during his remarks, without acknowledging the change in rank.

“He was an admiral, a doctor, and now he’s a congressman, and I said, which is the best if you had your choice? And he sort of indicated doctor because he loved looking at my body, it was so strong,” Trump said. “He said I’m the healthiest president that’s ever lived. … I said, I like this guy.”

By then, Jackson had already launched his congressional career and emerged as a visible surrogate for Trump, particularly on the topic of health. He continued to make public appearances on conservative media and at campaign events, questioning the fitness of President Biden and highlighting the cognitive exam he administered to Trump in 2018.

While Jackson publicly vouched for President Trump’s fitness and dismissed questions about his cognition, a very different account came from inside the Trump family. In November 2024, Fred C. Trump III, the president’s nephew, shared his perspective on what he described as a pattern of cognitive decline in the Trump family.

He also voiced concerns about parallels he had observed in the president himself. “I see it in parallel with the way my grandfather’s decline was,” Fred said. “If anyone wants to believe that dementia did not run in the Trump family, it’s just not true.”

Fred recalled that their grandfather, Frederick Trump Sr., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and began showing signs in the 1980s. He also named other relatives — President Trump’s cousin John Walter and sister Maryanne Trump Barry — as having exhibited similar symptoms before their deaths.

He claimed that during a 2023 encounter at Mar-a-Lago, the president “just looked disoriented, and he kept repeating something to me time and time again when I had met him.” In the same interview, Fred said he noticed changes in Trump’s speech patterns and public behavior.

“He has also had no inhibitions about cursing in front of anybody,” Fred said, acknowledging that while President Trump had “always cursed,” his recent communication felt more aggressive and erratic. He cited an exchange about his son William, who was born with a rare genetic mutation.

According to Fred, when the diagnosis was explained, President Trump responded, “Not our genes.” The Trump campaign dismissed the interview as “completely fabricated and total fake news.” No members of the Trump family publicly addressed the claims beyond that statement.

The April 2025 report states that neurological testing was conducted. But while the memo contains more clinical detail than previous releases, it does not reference a formal cognitive test, nor does it address the claims made by Trump’s nephew.

Polling data published in March 2025 by Monmouth University showed that 51 percent of registered voters expressed confidence in the president’s physical and mental stamina, compared with 32 percent who said the same about President Biden.

The decision to release the memo less than three months into Trump’s second term has drawn renewed attention to the results and the strategy behind their timing. What remains under continued scrutiny is not just the president’s current condition, but the broader pattern of how his health has been assessed, described, and publicly managed across two presidencies.