President Trump is in top shape mentally and physically and is fully capable of carrying out his duties — even though his hair is falling out, according to Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician.
“His health is excellent right now,” Jackson said at an hour-long White House press briefing that was remarkable for the level of detail revealed, adding that he had “no concerns” about the president’s cognitive abilities.
The fast-food loving Trump, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs in at 239, needs to eat less fat and get more exercise, but his heart rate, blood pressure, at 122 over 74, and internal organs all checked out A-OK, said Jackson.
Trump’s body mass index of 29.9 puts him in the overweight category — and just two pounds away from being classified as obese.
He said Trump takes a low-dose statin for cholesterol, which at 223 was higher than desired, an aspirin for his heart — and Propecia, a drug used for the treatment of male pattern hair loss.
He sleeps four or five hours a night, and takes an Ambien to help him sleep on long-distance flights, said Jackson, who attributed the president’s good health despite his unhealthy habits to good genes.
Jackson said he sees Trump in the White House daily and has never seen signs of mental illness.
The president, he said, requested a test of his cognitive abilities, and that he complied even though he didn’t think one was necessarily warranted — and Trump passed with flying colors.
Asked about the scores of psychiatrists who’ve proclaimed Trump mentally dangerous — without ever examining him — Jackson said there was no way they could properly diagnose him or anyone else from afar.
“He is fit for duty,” the doctor concluded, adding that he was confident that Trump had a “very strong and a very probable possibility” of completing his presidency “with no medical issues.”
Jackson stressed that the president — who famously avoids exercise, believing it does more harm than good — needed to change his ways in order to drop some weight.
“I think a reasonable goal over the next year or so would be to lose 10 to 15 pounds. We talked about diet and exercise a lot. He is more enthusiastic about the diet part than the exercise part, but we’re going to do both,” said Jackson, who also served as White House physician in the Obama administration’s second term.
“He and I will work together over the next year to incorporate a good plan so that we can meet those goals.”
Trump, Jackson, said, told him to “get out there and answer every single question you have” to allay fears among the public.
But one question late in his hour-long presentation — “What about sex addiction?” — prompted laughter, and Jackson joined in but did not respond.
Trump’s physical was conducted Friday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.