Doctor says Trump dictated letter saying his health was 'extraordinary'


The letter released in 2015 by then-candidate Donald Trump's doctor, which boldly declared that, if elected, Trump would be "the healthiest individual" to ever become president, was the hyperbolic work of Trump himself, Dr. Harold Bornstein revealed Tuesday.
"He dictated that whole letter," he told CNN. "I didn't write that letter. I just made it up as I went along." The letter, signed by Bornstein, was written in the same bombastic tone Trump is famous for — it declared that Trump's blood pressure was "astonishingly excellent" and his "physical strength and stamina are extraordinary," for example.
When asked at the time if he definitely wrote the letter, Bornstein said that yes, those were his words, but he's now telling CNN that Trump dictated the letter while Bornstein and his wife were driving through Central Park. "I would tell him what he couldn't put in there," he said. "They came to pick up their letter at 4 o'clock or something." Bornstein was full of big announcements on Tuesday, also telling NBC News that Trump aides came to his office last year and "raided" it, taking all of Trump's medical records without his permission.
Subscribe to 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.
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
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
China looms large over India and Pakistan’s latest violence
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Beijing may not have had troops on the ground. But as South Asia's two nuclear powers bared their teeth over Kashmir, China eyed opportunity in its own backyard
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?
Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool party
The Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds
Speed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influence
Speed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015
Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozens
Speed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year