President Donald Trump has long bragged that he is the healthiest and strongest president in U.S. history, and while this claim has been almost universally met with skepticism, he isn’t the only one to make this assertion. White House officials during both of Trump’s terms have made grandiose statements about the president’s health. But at 79, some people are questioning how healthy the oldest person ever elected president truly is.
Harold Bornstein: ‘healthiest individual ever elected’
In 2015, prior to Trump being elected for the first time, his then-physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, released a letter with a glowing endorsement of his health. Trump “has had no significant medical problems,” and if “elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” Bornstein said in his letter. He also claimed that Trump’s blood pressure and lab results were “astonishingly excellent” and said Trump had lost 15 pounds during the prior year.
But several years later, Bornstein revealed that the letter was actually written by Trump. “He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter. I just made it up as I went along,“ Bornstein said to CNN. Bornstein also revealed that he wrote the letter “in just five minutes while a limo sent by the candidate waited outside his Manhattan office,” the doctor said to NBC News. However, Bornstein, who died in 2021, also claimed that he stood by the overall assessment of Trump’s health.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
During Trump’s first term in 2018, the then-White House doctor, Dr. Ronny Jackson, gave similarly glowing reviews to Trump’s health that prompted skepticism. There is “no evidence that the president has any issues whatsoever with his thought process,” and Trump has a “lot of energy and stamina,” Jackson said to reporters at a White House press briefing. Jackson also said that he administered a cognitive exam to Trump, which he passed.
The internet also met with further doubt the idea that Trump was 6’3” and 239 pounds, which put his body mass index “just below the 30.0 threshold for him to be officially described as obese, rather than merely overweight,” said The Washington Post. Jackson’s press conference occurred the same month a tabloid-style book, “Fire and Fury,” was released, which “led to speculation about Trump’s mental fitness for office,” said NPR. The release of the book led to the infamous moment when Trump called himself a “very stable genius” on social media.
Stephen Miller: Trump is ‘superhuman’
Many people in Trump’s circle have championed his supposed vitality in his second term, none more so than White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Miller, who is no stranger to controversial remarks, has claimed that Trump has near-godlike abilities. The president “can work harder and he has a better memory and he has more stamina and has more energy than a normal mortal,” Miller said in an interview with New York magazine. “The headline of your story should be ‘The Superhuman President.’”
But these “strenuous assertions came alongside signs that made Trump seem more mortal than ever, from his dismal approval rating to the growing likelihood that Republicans will lose control of at least one chamber of Congress,” said New York. The president seemed undeterred. If “you’re going to write a bad story about my health, I’m going to sue the ass off of New York magazine,” Trump told the outlet.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
James Jones: Trump in better health than Obama
Former President Barack Obama is known for his vigorous fitness routine and healthy habits, but according to at least one doctor, Trump is the healthier person. Dr. James Jones, the White House physician’s assistant, chose Trump when asked in the same New York magazine interview who was in better health. When the question was asked, Trump, who was in the room, “stared across the desk, making eye contact with Jones. Jones didn’t hesitate. ‘President Trump,’ he said.”
Some may find this hard to believe, as Obama is a “fitness fanatic rumored to allow himself precisely seven almonds a night,” said New York magazine. But Trump’s EKG shows that he is “14 years younger. So age 65,” James said to the outlet. “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.”
Trump: ‘physical specimen’
Trump himself has compared his physique not only to Obama but also former President George W. Bush. Dr. Ronny Jackson claimed that Trump was the “best physical specimen” of the three presidents, Trump said during a 2025 speech in Norfolk, Virginia. Jackson believed that Trump was in the “best shape, the healthiest,” and the “best physical specimen,” Trump added.
This is not the first time Trump has championed his physicality in public, with another notable moment coming during his 2024 debate with former President Joe Biden. “I think I’m in very good shape. I feel that I’m in as good a shape as I was 25, 30 years ago,” Trump said during the debate, while also bragging about a series of cognitive tests he took during his first term.
Trump: meetings are ‘boring as hell’
Given Trump’s age, concerns arose during his second term when video appeared to show him falling asleep during a Cabinet meeting, his eyes closing as he apparently struggled to stay awake. But the White House — and Trump himself — said this was not the case and that he was only closing his eyes because he was bored.
The Cabinet meetings are “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,” Trump said to New York magazine in the same interview. “I’m hearing every word, and I can’t wait to get out,” he added. But this did little to assuage the mounting “speculation about the president’s ability to deal with chronic venous insufficiency and lead the country by past staffers, political strategists and the public,” said The Hill.
Trump: ‘I don’t want thick blood’
Further eyebrows were raised when Trump made more comments on his health during an interview with The Wall Street Journal. The most notable revelation was that Trump takes 325 milligrams of aspirin daily; the most common daily dosage is only 81 milligrams, according to the Mayo Clinic. But Trump takes a higher dosage because “aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” the president said to the Journal, claiming this was what caused excessive bruising on his hands.
Beyond the aspirin, people around Trump “say they often have to speak loudly in meetings with the president because he strains to hear,” the Journal reported. Trump also “doesn’t get regular exercise, and he is known to consume a diet heavy on salty and fatty foods, such as hamburgers and french fries.” Despite this, Trump is in“exceptional health and perfectly suited to execute his duties,” Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, Trump’s doctor, told the Journal.
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
