President Trump says he underwent a CT scan, rather than an MRI, during his October examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In a new interview, he also says it would have been better if he hadn’t undergone the scan at all.
“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” the president said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday. “I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”
In late October, Mr. Trump told reporters he underwent an MRI yielding “perfect” results during his examination that month. The White House said in December that “advanced imaging” was performed to check his “cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
But the president told The Wall Street Journal it was actually a CT scan, and his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, confirmed that in a statement to CBS News.
CT scans and MRIs are common imaging tests that help doctors see inside the body and diagnose a wide range of conditions. CT scans use a series of X-ray pictures to create a 3D image, typically allowing doctors to identify things like blood clots. An MRI takes longer and uses magnetic and radio waves to produce more detailed images of organs and soft tissue than CT scans.
“President Trump agreed to meet with the staff and soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in October,” Barbabella said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday. “In order to make the most of the president’s time at the hospital, we recommended he undergo another routine physical evaluation to ensure continued optimal health. As part of that examination, we asked the president if he would undergo advanced imaging — either an MRI or CT Scan — to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues. The president agreed, and our team of consultants performed a CT Scan. As we revealed in the post-examination report, the advanced imaging was perfectly normal and revealed absolutely no abnormalities.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House and Mr. Trump’s doctors have always maintained he received advanced imaging.
“Additional details on the imaging have been disclosed by the president himself, because he continues to be the most transparent and open president in history and has nothing to hide, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, who hid from the press and lied about his clear physical and mental decline,” Leavitt said in a statement.
The president also told the newspaper he doesn’t want to lower his daily aspirin dose, something he’s used as a blood thinner for over two decades. “I’m a little superstitious,” he said.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Mr. Trump told the Journal. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
Mr. Trump, 79, isn’t a fan of traditional exercise outside of his favorite pastime, golf.
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” Mr. Trump said. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”
Over the summer, the White House announced the president had been diagnosed with a “benign and common” vein condition known as chronic venous insufficiency after he noticed swelling in his legs. Barbabella said the examination revealed no evidence of a more serious condition like deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease.
The president has at times displayed visible bruises on his hands, which the White House has attributed to frequent handshaking.
“This is consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen,” Barbabella said in a memo over the summer.