Why There's So Much Drama Surrounding Trump's Medical Records

Donald Trump might have been full of bravado when he challenged President Joe Biden to take a cognitive test during the first 2024 presidential debate, but when Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in his place, the divisive politician likely regretted focusing on his former opponent's age and cognitive abilities so much. With Harris about 20 years younger than Trump, attention quickly shifted to his cognitive and physical wellbeing, and questions and rumors about his health and medical records have been swirling ever since. Likely realizing he was in a pinch, the former president confidently told CBS News that he was happy to share his medical records with the public. 

And yet, he hasn't actually followed through on that promise, despite claiming during his debate with Biden that Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson declared him fit as a fiddle. "He said I was the healthiest president, he feels, in history, so I liked him very much indeed immediately," the controversial candidate proclaimed (via NPR). Ironically, he got Jackson's last name wrong, referring to him as "Johnson." After surviving an assassination attempt, Trump assured the public that he'd taken several cognitive tests after the incident and passed them all with flying colors. "I got everything right. And one of the doctors said, 'I've never seen that before, where you get everything right,'" Trump bragged. 

Naturally, these records have not been released to the public either. There is reason to be worried about Trump's cognitive abilities, though — there's a history of Alzheimer's in his family, with Trump's father having been diagnosed with the disease. But the former president has been very stingy with his medical information to date, which has only served to heighten curiosity among the press and the public alike.

As Donald Trump continues to withhold his medical records, whispers about his declining health are mounting. While the divisive politician has continuously insisted that he's fine, both physically and mentally, following the rally shooting in July 2024, some aides shared their concerns with Vanity Fair, even suggesting that Trump is in denial. "He's been watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head — over and over and over again. He may actually legit have PTSD," one anonymous insider working on his presidential campaign divulged. The former "Apprentice" host's CT scan after the attempted assassination has also been kept private. 

In fact, the Trump camp has withheld all details, only providing The New York Times with doctors' notes describing their fearless leader's ear injury but no additional information about his recovery or whether Trump had sustained any permanent damage. The little that has been made known about the controversial candidate's health over the years isn't exactly reassuring either. Trump was previously diagnosed with high cholesterol and obesity, putting him at an increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke — especially as he gets older. Trump's medical reports have also raised some major questions, particularly after Dr. Harold Bornstein, who described him as "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency" ahead of his 2016 presidential campaign, per NPR, later confessed that the entire statement had been dictated by Trump. 

"I didn't write that letter. I just made it up as I went along," Bornstein informed CNN in 2018. The former president's 2023 health update, which he posted to Truth Social, proclaimed his state of health to be "excellent" and "exceptional," which seemed like an eerie echo of Bornstein's fabricated statement while also crucially remaining vague about the specifics. If there's one thing the public can probably count on it's that they'll never get a complete picture of Trump's health, and that any statements from his doctors should probably be taken with a grain of salt.