Donald Trump said an annual medical checkup had gone “perfectly” on Tuesday (May 26, 2026), as the health of the oldest U.S. President ever to take the oath faces growing scrutiny with the approach of his 80th birthday. It was Mr. Trump’s third medical examination since returning to office last year and follows mounting speculation about issues including bruising on his hands and apparent sleepiness during meetings.

“Everything checked out PERFECTLY,” Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social network as he drove back to the White House from the Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington. The White House later posted a picture of Mr. Trump on social media with the caption: “PERFECT BILL OF HEALTH!”

Mr. Trump’s doctor is expected to release a summary of the medical exam in coming days, although the amount of detail released is entirely at the White House’s discretion. Mr. Trump has long been accused of a lack of transparency about his health — and the chronology of his various checkups during his second term has added to the confusion.

He referred to Tuesday (May 26, 2026)’s checkup as a “six-month physical,” despite the White House billing it as an annual dental and medical examination when it announced it earlier this month. Mr. Trump’s last scheduled annual checkup was in April 2025. But it was followed by an unannounced hospital visit that October, which the White House then also described as an annual physical.

The Republican billionaire’s claims about his health are all the more subject to scrutiny given his repeated boasts about his mental and physical vigour compared to Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. Mr. Trump turns 80 on June 14 — an event that will coincide with an Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fight held on the White House lawn.

“I feel the same as I did 50 years ago,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office event earlier this month. Mr. Trump said that was despite his well-documented love of fast food, steak and Diet Coke, adding: “Maybe junk food is good.”

Officially standing at 6 foot 3 inches (191 cm) tall, Mr. Trump weighed 224 pounds (101.6 kilograms) as of his last full annual medical in April 2025, down from 243 pounds in 2019. He has denied taking weight-loss drugs. Mr. Trump has also spoken dozens of times about “acing” a cognitive test that he claims his presidential predecessors have not taken.

Vein problem

But last summer, the White House disclosed that Mr. Trump had been evaluated for swelling in his legs and diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency — a common condition in which faulty vein valves allow blood to pool, causing swelling, cramping and skin changes.

The revelation came after Mr. Trump was seen with swollen ankles on a number of occasions. Since returning to office in 2025, Mr. Trump has also often appeared with bruising on his right hand, usually covered with makeup. He also had a rash on his neck during one Oval Office appearance.

The White House has attributed the marks on his hand to the aspirin he takes as part of a “standard” cardiovascular health regimen. During a number of White House events, Mr. Trump has also been seen apparently closing his eyes for several seconds, although he has repeatedly denied dozing off.

After his October checkup, Mr. Trump said an MRI taken during the visit showed his cardiovascular health was “excellent.” His doctor, U.S. Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, wrote in a letter released by the White House at the time that Mr. Trump’s cardiac age “was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.”

Presidential age has been a recurring theme in U.S. politics in recent years. During the 2024 presidential election, Mr. Biden was forced to drop his bid for a second term at the age of 81 after a disastrous debate against Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden was the oldest ever president to take office — until Mr. Trump began his second term. Mr. Trump also holds the record for the third oldest president to be inaugurated, having begun his first term at age 70.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who turns 80 next month, will undergo his routine annual physical ‌on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), following a year ​of public attention on apparently minor health issues. Mr. Trump frequently casts himself as ⁠more energetic and fitter than Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor who left office last year at age 82 after facing questions about his fitness for the job.

Still, recent photographs showing a blotchy ‌neck rash have added to questions about Mr. Trump’s health, following images in July 2025 of swollen ankles and a bruised hand concealed with makeup. Mr. Trump, whose ‌birthday is June 14, became the oldest person to assume the presidency when he ‌began ⁠his second term in January 2025.

Mr. Trump maintains an active golf schedule, but ⁠joked about his relative lack of exercise at a recent Oval Office event where his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the President walks nine miles (14.5 km) every time he goes golfing.

“When I am ​not using the cart,” Mr. Trump said. White ‌House physician Sean Barbabella has said Mr. Trump is using a common cream as “a preventative skin treatment” to address the neck rash, but he has not given details of the condition being treated.

After the photographs of the President’s legs and hands were published ‌last July, Mr. Barbabella said in a letter that the ailments were benign and ​that there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease. Mr. Trump’s leg swelling was from a “common” vein condition, and his hand was ⁠bruised from shaking so many hands, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Mr. Trump said last October that he had received a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam that month. The White House ‌initially declined to share further details on the reason for the scan. Mr. Leavitt said only that it indicated “exceptional physical health” for Mr. Trump. The President later told reporters he got the MRI as part of a second physical exam.

“Getting an MRI is very standard. What, you think I shouldn’t have it? Other people get it. … I had an MRI. The doctor said it was the best result he has ever seen as a doctor,” Mr. Trump ‌said.

Medical experts noted that MRIs are not typically part of a routine physical and are usually prescribed ​to get detailed images of the body. In a memo after the second exam, Mr. Barbabella said the President’s “cardiac age — a validated measure of cardiovascular ⁠vitality via ECG — was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age”.

Mr. Trump has also ⁠faced questions after appearing to fall asleep during several meetings, including a session with his Cabinet. “Some people said, he closed his eyes. Look, it got ‌pretty boring,” Mr. Trump told laughing officials in February. “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell outta here.” Mr. Biden last year was diagnosed with ​an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that spread to his bones, and underwent radiation therapy.