While President Donald Trump’s recent MRI scan has renewed questions about his health, a former White House physician is now challenging the timeline of his care, asserting it doesn’t make sense and could point to the president having undergone additional procedures.
Trump revealed last week that he had undergone an MRI scan earlier in October at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, calling it “perfect” while speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One. The White House described the visit as routine, but medical experts have pushed back on that assertion, with one claiming there to be nothing routine about an MRI scan.
Now, former White House physician Jeffrey Kuhlman is questioning the timeline of President Donald Trump’s medical care, noting that the official account leaves several hours unexplained.
“Most any procedure scope, I had the capabilities there at the White House,” Kuhlman told The Hill in its report Sunday. “The only thing I couldn’t, that I’d have to Walter Reed for, is advanced imaging.”
According to reports, Trump left the White House for his medical care in early October at around 10:45 a.m., and returned at 2:15 p.m. Physician to the president Sean Barbabella had also released a memo about Trump’s medical care, claiming the president had received preventative health screenings and immunizations, while also declaring Trump’s cardiovascular vitality “to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.”
However, based on the care Trump received, the nearly four-hour window of time between Trump leaving the White House and returning didn’t line up, Kuhlman said.
“It’s about an eight-minute helicopter ride from the South Lawn to Walter Reed,” Kuhlman said, speaking with The Hill. “So we know that he at least had four hours available to undergo medical care. There’s a disconnect there.”
At 79, Trump is the single-oldest person to ever be elected to president, and the second-oldest president to ever hold office, behind only former President Joe Biden. Questions over Trump’s health have increased in recent months, particularly after photographs revealed Trump to be suffering from significant bruising on his hands – a symptom typical for those taking blood thinners – and swelling of his ankles.
Kuhlman has served as the physician to the president under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, and has previously observed in Trump what he described as “signs of cognitive decline.”