The doctor who wrote the vague note last year stating how Donald Trump is in “excellent health” is also a longtime member of the former president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, The Washington Post reported.
In November, Trump shared a doctor’s note prepared by Bruce A. Aronwald, a New Jersey-based osteopathic physician. The note was three paragraphs long and contained scant details on Trump’s physical and cognitive condition but stated twice that Trump’s overall health is “excellent.”
“I am pleased to report that President Trump’s overall health is excellent,” the note said. “His physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional.”
The health of the presidential candidates has been a major talking point leading up to the 2024 election, as voters will likely have to decide between incumbent President Joe Biden, who will turn 82 in November, and Trump, who will turn 78 in June. Republicans have used Biden’s age to question the Democratic candidate’s ability to run for a second term, despite the four-year age gap.
Following a scathing DOJ report about concerns over his mental acuity, Biden’s White House physician reported that the president was a “healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male.”
A ‘fixture’ at Trump’s golf club
Aronwald wrote in the note that he has been Trump’s personal physician since 2021. What was unknown at the time was that Aronwald also is a member and frequent visitor of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, according to the Post.
It’s unclear exactly how long Aronwald has been a part of Trump’s golf club. Still, the Post noted that the physician was a longtime member and that other club members said he is a regular visitor who could be seen spending time with the former president.
“If you are sitting around the pool, you see him all the time,” a club member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post regarding Aronwald. “He is a fixture.”
Aronwald and a spokesperson for the Bedminster club did not respond to a request for comment.
The doctor told the Post there was “no need for President Trump to release another medical report in addition to the one he recently made public,” adding that Trump “is strong physically and sharp cognitively, and he’s in excellent health overall.”
Ira Monka, president of the American Osteopathic Association, told the Post that Aronwald is one of New Jersey’s “top concierge doctors.” Some patients told the newspaper that Aronwald was not one to express his political views.
Aronwald’s last political donation was in 2015, when he donated $1,000 to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie‘s presidential campaign, according to the Post.
A history of Trump’s ‘excellent’ health status
Before Aronwald, Trump relied on Harold Bornstein, a gastroenterologist and the former president’s longtime personal physician, for health reports made to the public. Borstein died in January 2021 due to unknown causes.
Bornstein’s notes were notable for his flare for hyperbole, describing Trump’s health as “astonishingly excellent” and his stamina as “extraordinary,” The New York Times reported.
“If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” he wrote.
He had ambitions to become the White House doctor after Trump was elected in 2016, but those hopes were dashed after he disclosed to the Times in 2017 that Trump was taking a drug to promote hair growth.
After his fallout with his relationship with Trump, Bornstein said that Trump dictated a 2015 letter that declared him to be in excellent health.
A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.
The post The doctor who wrote a note about Trump’s ‘excellent’ health is a ‘fixture’ at the former president’s golf club: report appeared first on Business Insider.
