A top doctor called out the White House’s baffling claim that President Donald Trump got an MRI for “preventative” reasons, saying there was “nothing standard” about getting the scan.
Dr. Jeffrey A. Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, told the New York Times that advanced imaging has never been a typical part of a presidential physical—contrary to what the White House claimed Monday.
“There is nothing standard about an executive physical,” Linder told the newspaper Monday. “There is no medical specialty that recommends that an otherwise asymptomatic individual get imaging.”
“There is a reason we don’t test everybody for everything all the time,” he continued. Unnecessary testing for an individual who doesn’t need it can lead to useless treatments, Linder said.
He added, “There are real harms.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Trump, 79, had “preventative” advanced imaging last month as part of his “comprehensive executive physical.
The White House also released a statement from Dr. Sean Barbabella, the president’s physician, on Monday afternoon, which said that “President Trump remains at excellent health.”
“As part of President Donald J. Trump’s comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health,” the statement, shared by the White House to X, read.
“The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function,” it continued. “This level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump’s age and confirms that he remains in excellent health.”
Linder is not the only medical professional puzzled by the president’s “preventative” procedures.
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who served as the late former Vice President Dick Cheney’s cardiologist for over 30 years, called the explanation behind Trump’s advanced imaging “laughable.”
“There really is no preventative cardiac MRI,” Reiner, a medical analyst for CNN, said during an episode of CNN News Central on Monday. “This is not a standard test for an 80-year-old man to undergo advanced imaging.”
The analyst also commented on the frequency of Trump’s medical examinations, noting that the president already had a physical exam in April.
“If you look at his first administration, the president, like most presidents, only underwent one comprehensive physical exam every year, so this comes completely off-cycle,” he said.
Reiner also questioned the nature of the imaging, asking why Barbabella did not include the “specific advanced imaging” the president underwent.
“I hope the imaging is normal and great; that would be excellent news,” Reiner said. “But this kind of piece-by-piece, drip-by-drip release of information is just concerning.”
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