‘The president’s overall health is excellent,’ Dr. Ronny Jackson told reporters at the White House.
A White House doctor pronounced President Trump medically fit to serve as commander-in-chief on Tuesday, saying he could use more exercise and a better diet but is in solid condition.
“The president’s overall health is excellent,” Dr. Ronny Jackson told reporters at the White House, adding that the 71-year-old president has set a goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds over the next year.
Trump weighs in at 239 pounds, three more than reported after a physical in 2016. He takes a drug to reduce cholesterol, but does not use tobacco or alcohol, one of the reasons he is in general good health.
While critics question Trump’s mental health, Jackson said he did a “cognitive assessment” at the president’s request and it turned out fine.
After performing the exam Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Jackson issued a very brief statement saying it “went exceptionally well. The President is in excellent health.”
Trump appears to be overweight. The 71-year-old president is known to eat junk food, and to avoid exercise beyond golf.
The president has said he takes a statin drug designed to lower cholesterol levels. After a physical during the 2016 campaign, a statement from his doctor said the 6-foot-3 New York businessman weighed 236 pounds.
The physical did not include a psychiatric exam.
Critics began openly questioning Trump’s mental heath this month following a tweet in which he said he has a bigger nuclear button than North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, and the publication of Fire and Fury, a book about the White House, in which anonymous Trump acquaintances questioned the president’s mental stability.
Psychiatric exams are not part of presidential physicals, but Trump aides have insisted that Trump doesn’t need one. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters last week that Trump is “sharp as a tack.”
