President Trump will have his annual physical on Friday, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
The checkup will occur at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The exam is likely to be overseen by Dr. Sean Conley, the White House doctor.
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Sanders did not immediately elaborate on whether Trump, 72, would release the records to the public. No law obligates presidents to do so, and throughout history presidents frequently have released only partial records or, in some cases, masked severe medical conditions from the public.
Presidents don’t necessarily have annual physicals or release them to the public every year. Former President George H.W. Bush had at least four routine medical exams while in office, Bill Clinton had six, George W. Bush had at least five, and Barack Obama had at least four, a Washington Examiner review of presidential archives shows.
When Trump underwent his first physical as president on Jan. 12, 2018, he received a glowing bill of health from Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor who also worked under Bush 43 and Obama. Jackson read the results of the exam to the public and took questions from reporters for nearly an hour.
While he said Trump needed to lose weight, he also said Trump had passed an assessment used to measure possible early signs of dementia and that he had “incredibly good genes.” Jackson declared Trump “fit for duty.”
Members of the media openly questioned the assessment.
In April 2018, after Trump nominated Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, the doctor became the subject of rumors from anonymous sources who said that he got drunk on the job and improperly prescribed medications to White House staff. Jackson fiercely denied the accusations but eventually withdrew his name from consideration.
Trump recently appointed Jackson as his chief medical adviser.
