Trump physical report omits 3 cardiac metrics, doctors flag gaps

The White House memorandum describing President Trump's annual physical examination lacks standard cardiac measurements including calcium score, plaque description and ejection fraction, according to physicians who reviewed the document, reviving questions about presidential health transparency as the 79-year-old approaches his 80th birthday.

"The report is almost too good to be true for somebody of his age," Dr. William Shutze, a Texas vascular surgeon, said. "This seems to be a filtered narrative."

Trump spent about three hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on May 26 undergoing a battery of tests. Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, the president's physician, released a three-page memo late on May 30 stating Trump "remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function." The memo cited results from a coronary CT angiography, an echocardiogram and an artificial-intelligence-enhanced electrocardiogram analysis that estimated Trump's cardiac age at 14 years younger than his chronological age.

Yet the document omitted several metrics that cardiologists said are standard for a comprehensive cardiovascular evaluation. The report did not include a calcium score, a description of arterial plaque or a CAD-RADS score to assess artery narrowing. It also lacked the ejection fraction measurement — the percentage of blood pumped with each heart contraction — that Trump's 2018 physical had included. Barbabella said an ultrasound of the carotid arteries showed normal results without providing specific measurements.

"Almost all of us are going to have some buildup there," Shutze said of carotid plaque, adding that the report should have quantified it.

Gaps Beyond Cardiac Data

The report also lacked detail on conditions where Trump has known health issues. He visited Walter Reed three times last year, including once for swelling in his lower legs diagnosed as chronic venous insufficiency. The memo described "slight lower leg swelling" and noted "improvement from last year" without explaining the cause. Trump told the Wall Street Journal several months ago that he balked at wearing compression stockings, a standard treatment. Doctors said improvement without treatment would be unusual.

Trump's cholesterol numbers drew praise from physicians. His HDL measured 70 mg/dL and LDL at 53 mg/dL, levels Dr. Daniel Torrent, a Georgia vascular surgeon, called "the best cholesterol numbers you'll see." The report said Trump takes rosuvastatin and ezetimibe for cholesterol control. His PSA score of 1 ng/mL remained within a healthy range for his age.

The memo did not specify Trump's current aspirin dosage. Barbabella previously told the Journal that Trump takes 325 milligrams daily for cardiac prevention — four times the standard low-dose of 81 mg. Trump has acknowledged disregarding his doctor's recommendation to switch to the lower dose, saying he wants "nice, thin blood pouring through my heart." The report attributed bruising on Trump's hands to "frequent handshaking" and the "benign effect of aspirin therapy."

Transparency in Context

Presidential health disclosures have drawn increased scrutiny as Americans have elected older leaders. Trump, who turns 80 in June, is the oldest person elected president. His predecessor Joe Biden was 82 when he left office. Biden's annual physicals during his term declared him healthy despite visible signs of decline, and his doctors did not include prostate-specific antigen screening. Biden was later diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that had spread to his bones shortly after leaving office — a condition physicians said would almost certainly have been detected sooner with routine screening.

White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the report, saying Trump "has publicly released more detailed information about his health than any other president in history." The White House said the memo was intended as an executive summary and that the absence of specific results should be seen as confirmation that no clinically meaningful abnormalities were identified.

The debate over health transparency carries market implications. Presidential succession risk — though remote — is a factor that credit rating agencies and sovereign debt investors monitor. The last time a sitting U.S. president faced significant health questions during a second term, the VIX rose 4.2 points over a two-week period as uncertainty about leadership continuity weighed on equity markets, according to CBOE data. Defense and healthcare sectors, which are sensitive to administration policy priorities, could face repositioning if health concerns escalate.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.