Mark C.
Hey, Mark. It’s a good question. Technically, presidents have privacy rights protecting their medical records just like ordinary citizens, and that means they have leeway over what details are released.
Modern annual physicals, though, have often played key roles in offering the public a sense of the commander-in-chief’s health — despite historic instances of concealing major medical issues, including President Woodrow Wilson’s debilitating stroke in 1919.
AP reporter Will Weissert wrote a bit about Trump’s history with releasing his medical information. Here’s some of what he reported:
Despite long questioning predecessor Joe Biden’s physical and mental capacity, Trump has routinely kept basic facts about his own health shrouded in secrecy — shying away from traditional presidential transparency on medical issues.
If history is any indication, his latest physical is likely to produce a flattering report that’s scarce on details. It will be conducted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will be the first public information on Trump’s health since an assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Rather than release medical records at that time, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson — a staunch supporter who served as his White House physician and once joked in the White House briefing room that Trump could live to be 200 if he had a healthier diet — wrote a memo describing a gunshot wound to Trump’s right ear.
In a subsequent interview with CBS last August, Trump said he’d “very gladly” release his medical records but never did.