Last November, right before President Trump took an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Vice President Mike Pence was told that he needed to be ready to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency, New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt writes in his new book, Donald Trump v. The United States.
Schmidt said that while reporting for the book, he learned that in the hours before Trump's trip to the hospital, "word went out in the West Wing" that Pence had to be on standby in case "Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized." Pence did not end up having to assume the powers of the presidency, but Schmidt's book raises new questions about why Trump had to go to the hospital.
At the time, then-White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed Trump had a "free weekend" and elected to "begin portions of his routine annual physical exam." Presidents do not normally conduct their physicals in stages, and a person familiar with the matter told CNN in November that Trump's visit did not follow protocol. There was never any staff-wide notice sent about a "VIP" coming in, the source said, indicating that the trip was not routine or planned in advance. CNN asked the White House on Monday for a comment on Schmidt's book, but the request was declined.
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.
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
‘Extraordinary asymmetry’: the history of Israeli prisoner swapsIn The Spotlight Exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees is the latest in a series of trades in which Israeli lives appear to count for more
-
October 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include peace in Palestine, government playoffs, and barking up Pam Bondi's tree
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia JamesSpeed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in ChicagoSpeed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leadersSpeed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
