Trump vents over White House doctors requesting 'secret' medical scan as he fumes it was the 'worst f***ing thing I ever did'
Donald Trump called the MRI scan he got while under scrutiny over his health last year at the request of White House doctors the 'worst f***ing thing I ever did.'
In October, Trump revealed he'd undergone the procedure during a hospital visit, providing an explanation for the first time on why he underwent a second medical exam in a year.
While Trump, who turns 80 in June, was said to be in 'excellent health' after the scan, he remained furious with White House doctors over having to do it at all.
'It was the worst f***ing thing I ever did, and I blame them,' Trump told New York Magazine's Ben Terris, pointing at White House physicians Captain Sean Barbabella and Lieutenant Colonel James Jones.
The president discussed his health at length with the reporter during a December interview in the Oval Office
'They wanted me to take it. And because I took it, people want to say, "Oh, there must be something wrong."'
He then asked the two physicians: 'Can you explain why you asked me that? Stupidest thing I've ever done.'
Jones said that Trump had an appointment scheduled for Walter Reed Medical Center and wanted him to get some additional tests done but suggested it wasn't really an MRI.
Donald Trump called the MRI scan he got while under scrutiny over his health last year at the request of White House doctors the 'worst f***ing thing I ever did.'
Trump blamed White House physicians Captain Sean Barbabella (pictured right) and Lieutenant Colonel James Jones (pictured left) for the MRI controversy
'While he was there, I asked him if we could complete some additional physical things that we were planning on doing annually. And he was like, "Okay. We will work it in for time schedules." It wasn't actually an MRI.'
Jones also explained that Trump instead had an 'MRI-like' exam of his chest and abdomen.
Trump still fumed to the doctors: 'And not for any reason. It's because the machine was sitting there, I'm sitting right next to it.'
'The reason for the imaging, as routine as we stated, is that any patient his age could have things, and we ruled them out' Jones added.
Barbabella and Jones both maintained that the results from the tests were 'excellent' and Trump was in good condition.
'The story should be about the fact that the results were, uh, perfect. They did not demonstrate any problems.'
Trump said his concerns with the two doctors are that they work at the White House across different presidential administrations.
'I love these two guys; they're great but I don't know them. They're White House doctors.'
President Donald Trump is seen with a large bruise on his left hand while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week
Jones worked for several years under President Barack Obama as a senior medical leader.
At one point during the interview, Jones was asked: 'Who is healthier, Obama or President Trump?'
Jones immediately responded: 'President Trump.'
In a statement in early December, Barbabella, who serves as a physician to the president, gave a summary of Trump's 'advanced imaging results', also known as an MRI.
Trump's scan revealed no abnormalities and confirmed that he is in 'excellent health.' MRI scans are a standard preventative procedure for men his age, the doctor said.
Barbabella said: 'As part of President Donald J Trump's comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.
'The purpose of this imaging is preventive: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function.
'President Trump's cardiovascular imaging is perfectly normal. There is no evidence of arterial narrowing impairing blood flow or abnormalities in the heart or major vessels.
Trump has faced concerns about his health throughout the early months of his second term
'The heart chambers are normal in size, the vessel walls appear smooth and healthy, and there are no signs of inflammation or clotting. Overall, his cardiovascular system shows excellent health.
'His abdominal imaging is also perfectly normal. All major organs appear very healthy and well-perfused. Everything evaluated is functioning within normal limits with no acute or chronic concerns.
'SUMMARY: This level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump's age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health.'
Even back then, the scan appeared to frustrate President Trump when asked about it by the media.
'[The scans] were perfect like my phone call where I got impeached. Absolutely perfect. If you want to have it released, I'll release it,' Trump said.
A second reporter followed up, asking whether the MRI was carried out on his brain.
'I have no idea. It was just an MRI. It wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and aced it. I got a perfect mark which you would be incapable of doing,' Trump said.
He then pointed at the reporter who asked the original question, adding, 'You too.'
After photos showed him with swollen legs and ankles, the White House revealed in July that he had been diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency - a condition where leg veins can't send blood back to the heart efficiently
Trump underwent the exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 10.
At the time it was described as a routine check-up but it was his second medical exam in less than a year.
The rumors about his health began earlier this year after people spotted a bruise on the president's hand, as well as swollen ankles. It was later announced that he was suffering from chronic venous insufficiency.
However, other speculation has surrounded a perceived difference in the president's energy levels when compared to his first term.
In the same magazine feature, Trump dismissed fears of Alzheimer's, though he forgot the name of the disease, which causes dementia.
The president talked about his father, real estate developer Fred Trump, who died in 1999 at the age of 93, after suffering from dementia.
'He had one problem,' Trump said of his father. 'At a certain age, about 86, 87, he started getting, what do they call it?'
Trump looked at White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for an assist.
Trump also dismissed Alzheimer's fears in the interview, in which Cabinet members and aides testified about the 79-year-old leader's vigor
'Alzheimer's,' Leavitt responded.
Trump then said his father had 'like an Alzheimer's thing.'
'Well, I don't have it,' the president insisted.
Terris asked Trump whether he thinks about it at all.
'No, I don't think about it at all. You know why?' Trump asked. 'Because whatever it is, my attitude is whatever.'
At another point in the interview, the president boasted that he felt 'the same as I did 40 years ago.'
Like President Joe Biden before him, who, when elected, was the country's oldest president, there are nagging questions about Trump's health, who, when reelected, is on track to become the country's oldest president.
Trump appeared irritated that the topic kept coming up.
'I hate to waste a lot of time on this, but if you're going to write a bad story about my health, I'm going to sue the a** off of New York Magazine,' he told Terris. 'There will be a time when you can write that story, maybe in two years, three years, five years -five years, no one is going to care, I guess.'
Trump will be out of office in three years.
Just in recent days, the White House had to provide an explanation for a bruise that appeared on Trump's left hand while he was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Leavitt said the president hit his hand on the table during his Board of Peace event Thursday, and he bruises easily due to his daily regimen of Aspirin.
In July, the White House also said that Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, an explanation for his swollen ankles.
Trump's mental fitness was also scrutinized when he appeared to be threatening to invade Greenland due to being snubbed by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which gave last year's Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado instead of the US president.
Machado has since given her Nobel to Trump, but it still didn't stop Trump from making Greenland threats while at the Alpine conference of world leaders.
Everyone around Trump, including his White House doctors, pushed to New York Magazine that the president is fine.
Only one anonymous senior staff member said that the president was losing his hearing - and suggested the president wasn't aware of this yet.
'He can work harder and he has a better memory and he has more stamina and has more energy than a normal mortal,' White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told the magazine. 'The headline of your story should be "The Superhuman President."'
New York Magazine used Miller's suggested headline, but put it in quotes.
Trump wouldn't concede that he fell asleep, though he told Terris, 'It's boring as hell.'
'I'm going around a room, and I've got 28 guys - the last one was three and a half hours. I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I'm listening. I'm hearing every word, and I can't wait to get out.'
Jones even told the magazine that Trump's EKG reads like he's '14 years younger.'
'So age 65. His stamina demonstrates that. We get a view that nobody else does. Nobody can stay up with him. The rest of the staff is tired; we are too. And he's not,' Jones said.
