A top American cardiologist has suggested that President Donald Trump may have quietly undergone an MRI scan due to potential neurological or cardiovascular symptoms.
Dr Jonathan Reiner is a professor of medicine at George Washington University. He is also a former cardiologist to ex-vice president Dick Cheney.
The consultation
Reiner told CNN that MRIs are never performed as part of a routine check-up, implying that Trump’s test was probably forced due to symptoms.
“Typically, they’re prompted by symptoms,” Reiner explained. “They can be neurologic symptoms that prompt an MRI. They could be back pain that prompts an MRI. There can be issues with the heart that would prompt an MRI. And for those reasons, the public should really be told, you know, why did the president undergo the test, what consultants he saw, and what was the result of the testing?”
'Perfect' results
79-year-old Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had received an MRI, calling the results “perfect.” When asked about why the scan was done, he redirected questions to his doctors and added, “I gave you the full results. We had an MRI… you know the whole thing. And it was perfect.”
The White House has not disclosed the reason for the MRI, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt describing it as part of a “routine health check.” However, Reiner strongly disagreed, saying, “An MRI is never part of a routine evaluation, whether you’re president of the United States or whether you’re just a civilian.”
No MRI without a clear reason
Public health physician Dr Vin Gupta supported Reiner’s statement, writing on X, “Even if you are leader of the free world, you don’t just get an MRI without a clear reason to do so. There’s no such thing as a ‘screening’ MRI.”
Concerns about Trump’s health have grown in recent months after several public appearances showed him with visible bruises on his hands and a noticeably uneven gait. At times, he appeared slower on his feet and struggled with short-term recollection.
Medications
The White House announced in July that Trump suffers from chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which veins struggle to send blood from the legs back to the heart. Reiner suggested that Trump’s visible bruising and cankles might be linked to blood-thinning medication, which is commonly prescribed for cardiovascular issues.
“There are a lot of things that can do that,” Reiner said. “The most common cause for bruising in the back of a 79-year-old person’s hand is medications. And the typical medication that causes that would be a blood thinner.”
He added that people usually take such drugs with conditions like pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or atrial fibrillation. “People who take blood thinners for atrial fibrillation typically are on them indefinitely, and the side effects of medications like that are bruising,” Reiner said.
He concluded that the key question is not just what the MRI showed, but why it was ordered. “Why he would have an MRI depends on the underlying reason for either that medication or other undisclosed medical problems. It is just as important why he had the test as what the test showed.”
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