An MRI on President Donald Trump’s heart and abdomen that the White House had refused to explain since October was “standard” and came back “perfectly normal,” according to a memo dated Monday from the president’s physician.
The test at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this fall, part of Trump’s annual physical, had raised eyebrows, particularly after the White House refused for weeks to release the results.
A day after the president told reporters he would disclose those details, the White House released a memo from Trump’s doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, addressed to press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“President Trump’s cardiovascular imaging is perfectly normal,” Barbabella wrote, later saying the same about the president’s abdominal imaging. The magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, was a preventive measure “because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health,” the doctor noted.
Trump, the oldest U.S. president, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he couldn’t remember what part of his body the imaging test had examined, other than he knew it had nothing to do with his head.
“I took a cognitive test and I aced it,” he said before insulting the reporter who had asked.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.