Doctors alarmed as Trump’s 3rd hospital visit in 13 months reignites health questions

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will make his third visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in 13 months, which the Washington Post reports has reignited questions from outside doctors about the state of his mental and physical health.

Typically, American presidents visit Walter Reed annually to receive a regular checkup, but Trump’s unusually frequent trips, coupled with several ongoing visible ailments, have led many to speculate about his condition. Soon turning 80-years-old and the oldest person ever inaugurated president, Trump’s last scheduled visit was in April last year was followed by another just six months later, shortly after which it was revealed he’d received a CT scan.

While the president and his allies relentlessly assert that he is in “excellent health,” independent doctors are not so sure, asking “why Trump’s hands have been repeatedly bruised, why his legs are swollen and whether his occasional sleepiness is a sign of a deeper issue, saying that they find White House explanations insufficient.”

“This White House just doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge any physical ailment, but older people develop medical issues, and the president is almost 80 years old,” said Jonathan Reiner, cardiologist for former vice president Dick Cheney. “There just seems to be a lack of candor from the White House.”

Doctors aren’t alone in such questions, as polls show the public has diminishing confidence in Trump’s physical and mental capabilities. Recent surveys show that “40 percent of Americans thought Trump had the mental sharpness to serve as president, down from 47 percent last September. Forty-four percent of Americans thought Trump had the physical health to do the job, down from 54 percent last September.” Such concerns have prompted lawmakers to suggest more frequent health checks for presidents and the creation of an independent commission for determining presidential health.

In addition to asserting his physical health, Trump also frequently boasts of his cognitive abilities, which is another area that has experts worried. While the president has repeatedly bragged about “acing” his cognitive exams, as many have noted, such exams are designed to be easy for anyone who isn’t suffering from mental decline.

"The president has long struggled to understand the point of these tests,” one analyst explained recently, “but that hasn’t stopped him from his obsessive boasts about being able to pass exams used to identify dementia, mental deterioration and neurodegenerative diseases." In other words, Trump brags that these tests show how smart he is, when he should really wonder why his doctors keep ordering him to take them.

Trump mentioned the tests yet again on Friday, saying at a rally, “I don’t mind being called a brilliant, total tyrant dictator, but I don’t want to be called dumb,” then suggesting that “all presidents and vice-presidential candidates should be forced to take a cognitive test and a test on intelligence,” asserting that he would outperform Obama or Biden.

Regardless of Trump’s health claims, his “second physical exam at Walter Reed last year had little modern precedent, with presidents usually making just one annual trip unless they have an urgent condition.” This has doctors and amateurs alike speculating.

“I think we’re dealing with the madness of King George III here,” said former Trump ally Alex Jones recently, referring to the 18th-century British king whose reign was characterized by a descent into physical and mental illness. “Folks, when you’ve got ankles that big, it means congestive heart failure.” Jones then listed a number of Trump’s recent contradictory, confused statements, saying, “When you know someone in early dementia, that is exactly what they do. We got a big, big problem.”