President Donald Trump will undergo his annual physical exam Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.
Trump’s physical exam in 2018 became a matter of intense media scrutiny with White House physician Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson delivering an hour-plus long briefing on the state of the president’s health. The White House was then accused of allegedly skewing Trump’s physical exam results by CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta.
White House, Presidential physician Ronny Jackson answers question about U.S. President Donald Trump’s health after the president’s annual physical during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
“By all standards, by all metrics, any way a doctor or cardiologist would look at it, the president does have heart disease,” Gupta declared, despite Jackson’s own firm assertion that Trump was not suffering from heart disease.
The White House did not detail whether a similar long form briefing on the results of the physical exam would again take place, only noting that the exam itself would occur.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Physician to U.S. President Donald Trump Dr. Ronny Jackson speaks during the daily White House press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House January 16, 2018 in Washington, DC. Dr. Jackson discussed the details of President Trump’s physical check-up from last week. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Jackson’s public profile skyrocketed in the months after Trump nominated him and then withdrew him from consideration to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. Jackson was dogged by allegations that he improperly distributed medication to White House staff, a charge he and the White House vehemently denied. (RELATED: Ronny Jackson Withdraws VA Secretary Nomination)
The Pentagon later opened an investigation into the allegations and Jackson left his post after nearly a decade in the job.
Trump maintained throughout Jackson’s nomination process that he was being unfairly treated by Democratic lawmakers and that he maintained absolute confidence in him. He later appointed him as “Assistant to the President and Chief Medical Advisor.”