The most high-profile doctor in the Trump administration says there’s a good reason the president is having so many medical tests: it’s because he’s meticulous.
Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor-turned-Medicare administrator, also described Trump as a “vessel” of strength as he downplayed concerns about his 79-year-old boss’s mental and physical fitness.
“I work with him frequently. Many of you get to see him almost every day. That amount of energy and that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum,” he told reporters.
“You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the President has the ability to keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength.”
The comments came as Oz became the latest senior official to address the White House briefing room in the absence of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave.
But his appearance came days after Trump had his fourth known medical checkup since returning to office, resulting in the White House putting out an incomplete medical report that was missing crucial details.
According to the memo issued by the president’s personal physician shortly before 11 pm on Friday night, various diagnostic tests had revealed Trump was in “excellent health.”
However, the memo also failed to provide the results of those tests, adding to concerns that Americans were not getting the full picture.
But Oz, who spent years as the face of The Dr. Oz Show, told reporters: “I had the president on my show 10 years ago, and he also presented records at the time. I was stunned at how well he was going, because so many of these numbers naturally over time will start going in the wrong direction. But if you look at these records, they’re spectacular!”
Asked why Trump was having so many check-ups if he was so healthy, Oz replied: “I think he likes the results.”
“I do actually believe that he is curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction,” he added. “He’s a very meticulous person in so many ways that are often under-appreciated.
“For him to want to know all the numbers and keep on top of it, it’s the same reason he calls people at odd hours: because something’s on his mind, he wants to deal with it.”
Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, is the oldest American president to be inaugurated. He spent years mocking his predecessor Joe Biden’s mental and physical health, but now faces many questions about his own capacity to serve, with frequent bruises on his hands, swollen ankles and increasingly erratic behavior.
His manic social media posting exploded to an unprecedented level in May, according to a Daily Beast analysis, with his average posts per day spiking to 27, or the equivalent of just over once every hour of every day.
Trump has also been caught appearing to doze off during meetings and events, earning him the nickname “Dozy Don,” as well as triggering speculation about chronic insomnia.
“Chronic insomnia is a severe illness. It can result in an increase in risk of dementia, decrease in cognitive effects in older people,” leading cardiologist Jonathan Reiner told CNN last week.
But the president and his allies insist he is in top shape, and as sharp as ever.
“The results of my Physical Examination, taken at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, and just released, were extremely good,” Trump wrote on Truth Social as he bragged about taking another cognitive test, which is essentially a screening tool for dementia.
“Unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered “extreme intelligence.” Are the Dumocrats really surprised?”
