White House Releases Memo on Trump’s Health After Unannounced Walter Reed Visit

White House Releases Memo on Trump’s Health After Unannounced Walter Reed Visit
President Donald Trump speaks at Derco Aerospace Inc., a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 12, 2019. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Janita Kan
11/19/2019
Updated:
11/19/2019

The White House has released a memorandum from President Donald Trump’s doctor late Monday, dispelling speculation about the president’s unannounced visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center over the weekend.

The memo from the president’s physician Dr. Sean Conley said Trump’s visit to the medical center was part of the “regular, primary preventative care” that the president received throughout the year. It dismissed speculation that Trump was brought to the hospital for chest pain and said he was not evaluated or treated for any “urgent or acute issues.”

“Primary preventative care is something that occurs continuously throughout the year, it is not just a single annual event,” Conley said in the memo.

This comes after Trump spent about two hours at the medical center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Nov. 16, fueling rumors that the president’s visit was due to chest discomfort. The White House did not include the hospital visit in his public schedule.

The Nov. 18 memo explained that the trip was “kept off the record” because of “scheduling uncertainties.”

During the visit, Trump also visited some medical staff and spoke with the family of a soldier undergoing surgery, Conley said.

In the memo, Conley said that the president had consented to sharing his cholesterol readings ahead of next year’s report. He said that Trump’s total cholesterol level is at 165, with an HDL of 70, and LDL of 84 and a non-HDL of 95. That is down from 196 in February.
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the president’s blood cholesterol levels fall within the healthy range.

A full summary of the results will be released in next year’s health report, Conley said.

(White House)
(White House)

After Trump arrived at hospital on Nov. 16, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the president was taking advantage of a free weekend in Washington to being his routine annual physical exam in anticipation of a very busy 2020.

Trump also posted about the checkup on Twitter following the visit.

“Also began phase one of my yearly physical. Everything very good (great!). Will complete next year,” he wrote.

Trump, 73, is the oldest man to be sworn in as president. His main Democratic rivals for the 2020 presidential race are also aged 70 or older, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Sanders experienced a health scare last month and had emergency surgery following a heart attack. Biden said he would release his medical records before the first primary votes.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.