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Elemental is a former publication from Medium for science-backed health and wellness coverage. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

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A Reality Check on Trump’s ‘Interim Checkup’

4 min readNov 19, 2019

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Credit: Hero Images/Getty Images

EEarly Sunday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted about his impromptu visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday, where he reported visiting a military family and undergoing “phase one” of his routine annual physical exam.

“Those are truly some of the best doctors anywhere in the world,” he wrote of the hospital. “Also began phase one of my yearly physical. Everything very good (great!). Will complete next year.”

In a statement on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham refuted concerns about the president’s health, stated that he had a “quick exam and labs” and simply wanted to take advantage of some downtime by getting started on a “portion of his routine annual physical exam” before a busy year ahead.

After some media speculation about the president’s health (including why he would go to the doctor, on Saturday, before his annual physical was due), his physician released a memo clarifying that the visit was an “interim checkup,” and that “primary preventative medical care is something that occurs continuously throughout the year.”

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Elemental
Elemental

Published in Elemental

Elemental is a former publication from Medium for science-backed health and wellness coverage. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Ashley Abramson
Ashley Abramson

Written by Ashley Abramson

Writer-mom hybrid. Health & psychology stories in NYT, WaPo, Allure, Real Simple, & more.