President Donald Trump’s staff regularly clears the room when one subject comes up, an insider told The Wall Street Journal — a habit the outlet described as “a rarity in a freewheeling White House.”
That subject is the president’s health. At 80 years old, Trump has faced growing scrutiny regarding his physical and mental health, having been observed in recent months with apparent facial drooping, severe bruising and swollen ankles. A doctor “is supposed to be no more than three minutes away from the president at all times,” according to the Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
Typically, that doctor is Dr. Sean Barbabella, Trump’s primary physician, who himself has faced scrutiny for including in his reports “extraneous information” such as the president’s golf victories, while excluding “key metrics of Trump’s health,” the Journal reported.
And whenever Trump speaks with Barbabella, his staff reportedly scatters, which the Journal characterized as atypical.
“Barbabella’s style with Trump is low key and direct, according to a person who has seen them interact,” the Journal’s Annie Linskey wrote. “Staff regularly leave the room when Trump is talking to his physician, according to the person, a rarity in a freewheeling White House.”
Trump has frequently dismissed the advice of medical experts, admitting earlier this month that he takes a large daily dose of aspirin against his doctor’s wishes. He’s previously admitted to taking larger doses than his doctors recommended because he wanted “nice, thin blood pouring through my heart,” a practice cautioned against by health experts.
“They said, ‘Sir, you don’t need that!’ I said, ‘Do me a favor, I’ve been doing OK for 35 years, leave me alone.’ I’ll switch to the little tiny one, you know, tiny! It doesn’t look right. I’ll switch to that little tiny thing and then something bad will happen,” Trump said at his rally earlier this month, defending his habit of taking more aspirin than his doctors recommend.