CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta declared President Trump likely has heart disease, disputing findings made public by the official White House physician.
Speaking Wednesday on CNN, Gupta said the test results made public the previous day by Dr. Ronny Jackson, the president’s physician and a Navy rear admiral, demonstrated a heart malady.
“A few years ago, dating back to 2009 President Trump started having these tests that are actually looking for the presence of calcium in the blood vessels that lead to the heart … and steadily, up until just this past week, when he had them performed again, those numbers have gone up,” Gupta said. “Well, when they get to a certain range, and his number is in the 130s, that means he has heart disease.”
He added there was “no question” that “by all standards, by all metrics, any way a doctor or cardiologist would look at it, the president does have heart disease.”
He said, however, that it could be controlled by medication and diet.
A White House official said there was nothing to add to Jackson’s statements on Trump’s health, telling the Washington Examiner, “The question was asked and answered very clearly. Perhaps Dr. Gupta should take the cognitive exam?”
Gupta’s diagnosis, which came without having personally treated Trump, contradicts Jackson’s statements made during a White House briefing Tuesday.
Jackson was asked twice if the test results indicated heart disease.
“No, not at all,” he said once. “I mean, I think that the one good thing that — there are many good things that came from his exam. I think he had great findings across the board, but the one that stands out more than anything to me is his cardiac health. His cardiac health is excellent.”
Asked directly by Gupta at the briefing if Trump does have heart disease, Jackson replied, “No, he does not have heart disease.”
