Donald Trump ‘fully fit’ to serve as president, doctor says

April 13, 2025 journo

Donald Trump’s doctor says the oldest man elected as US president is “fully fit” to serve as commander-in-chief following his recent physical exam.

The White House released the 78-year-old’s results on Sunday, local time, with signs the president was in better shape than at his 2020 check-up, which showed him bordering on obesity.

His physician, navy Captain Sean Barbabella, who ran a health clinic in North Carolina before Mr Trump tapped him for the job, cited an “active lifestyle” that “continues to contribute significantly” to the Republican president’s wellbeing.

A piece of paper with a doctors signature on it — The report on President Donald Trump’s health after his physical this month. (AP: Photo/Jon Elswick)

The doctor said Mr Trump was “fully fit to execute the duties of commander-in-chief and head of state”.

The summary noted that Mr Trump previously had cataract surgery on both eyes, but gave no dates.

Mr Trump again passed a Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, a short screening test to assess different brain functions, Mr Barbabella wrote.

The test includes remembering a list of spoken words and listening to a list of random numbers and repeating them backward, among other questions.

“I think I did very well,” Mr Trump said after the exam.

“Overall, I felt I was in very good shape. A good heart, a good soul, a very good soul.”

Mr Trump may be the oldest person elected to the nation’s highest office, but he is four years younger than Democrat Joe Biden, who was 82 when his presidential term ended in January.

Despite raising questions about Mr Biden’s physical and mental capacity and repeatedly asserting that Mr Biden did not know what he was doing, Mr Trump has routinely kept basic details about his health from the public.

It also confirmed scarring on Mr Trump’s right ear from a gunshot wound during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024.

Mr Barbabella performed and supervised the medical examination of Mr Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He said it included diagnostic and laboratory testing in addition to consultations with 14 specialists.