Stephanie Grisham is shedding some light on former President Donald Trump's unscheduled November 2019 visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Grisham, a former White House press secretary, writes about the event in her new book I'll Take Your Questions Now, CNN reports. At the time, the White House explained that Trump made an unannounced visit to Walter Reed so he could undergo "portions of his routine annual physical exam," as he would be "very busy" in 2020. This caused a stir, as staffers were not told he was coming ahead of time and presidents don't typically spread out their physical exams over several months.
In I'll Take Your Questions Now, Grisham heavily implies that Trump was at the hospital for a colonoscopy. She never uses the term, but describes it as "a very common procedure" during which a "patient is put under," CNN reports. She also says former President George W. Bush, who had multiple colonoscopies during his two terms, went through a similar procedure while in office. Grisham writes that Trump attempted to keep his visit under the radar because he didn't want former Vice President Mike Pence to be in charge while he was under and "did not want to be the butt of a joke" on late night talk shows.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump told CNN in a statement that it is "too bad that sleaze bag publishers continue to report this very boring garbage. We and the MAGA movement are totally used to it. And someday in the not too distant future we will have our voice back and be treated fairly by the press."
-
Kim Ju Ae: North Korea’s next leader?The Explainer Kim Jong Un’s young daughter is being seen as his ‘recognised heir’ following a high-profile public appearance at China summit
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to 'lock in' American AI with US allies
-
Russia’s war games and the threat to NatoIn depth Incursion into Poland and Zapad 2025 exercises seen as a test for Europe
-
What is Donald Trump’s visit worth to the UK economy?In the Spotlight Centrepiece of the president’s trip, business-wise, is a ‘technology partnership’
-
Trump’s visit: the mouse and the walrusBritain is keen to point to its own ‘tangible results’, but the US administration has made their demands clear
-
Supreme Court: Will it allow Trump’s tariffs?Feature Justices fast-track Trump’s appeal to see if his sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional
-
Venezuela: Was Trump’s air strike legal?Feature A Trump-ordered airstrike targeted a speedboat off the coast of Venezuela, killing all 11 passengers on board
-
3 killed in Trump’s second Venezuelan boat strikeSpeed Read Legal experts said Trump had no authority to order extrajudicial executions of noncombatants
-
Is Kash Patel’s fate sealed after Kirk shooting missteps?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The FBI’s bungled response in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting has director Kash Patel in the hot seat
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spinsSpeed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
-
Trump renews push to fire Cook before Fed meetingSpeed Read The push to remove Cook has ‘quickly become the defining battle in Trump’s effort to take control of the Fed’
