CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner on Monday called out the White House for being less-than-forthcoming about President Donald Trump’s health ahead of his planned “routine” examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday.
It will be the president’s third “annual” exam in just 13 months.
“This White House just doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge any physical ailment, but older people develop medical issues, and the president is almost 80 years old,” Reiner told The Washington Post. “There just seems to be a lack of candor from the White House.”
Trump has had visibly swollen ankles, aka “cankles,” which the White House said last year is due to chronic venous insufficiency, a common and often benign condition that involves poor blood flow from the legs to the heart.
That can cause blood to pool in the legs and feet, as seen in this July 2025 photo of Trump’s ankle:
Reiner called on the White House to come clean about the details of how and when the condition happened, given that it wasn’t noted during his April 2025 examination at Walter Reed.
He told the Post that if the condition appeared suddenly after that visit, it could be due to acute edema, and “that usually warrants a in-depth evaluation to make sure that you don’t have conditions like congestive heart failure.”
Trump, who turns 80 next month, has often had bruises on his hand, which the White House has said is from aspirin use and frequent hand-shaking.
Reiner has in the past questioned that as well, calling Trump’s 325 mg per day of aspirin an “unorthodox” dose.
“Not only is there no benefit in terms of just primary prevention ― trying to prevent a cardiac event by giving them aspirin ― that there can be hazard,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “And the hazard can be bleeding, significant bleeding.”
Trump often uses cosmetics to cover up the bruising on his hand.
Kent Nishimura/ AFP via Getty Images
Reiner, who previously served as cardiologist to Vice President Dick Cheney, has been vocal about Trump’s health. He’s called for Trump to be examined for sleep apnea given his tendency to seemingly doze during meetings.
“Repeatedly falling asleep with a dozen people surrounding your desk is not normal,” he said on X earlier this year. “It needs to be evaluated.”
Trump’s Tuesday visit to Walter Reed will be his third annual physical in 13 months after he had two “annual” medical visits in 2025, in April and again in October.
Trump said after that second visit that he had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, which he called “perfect” without providing specifics. He later said it was actually a CT scan, but added that he didn’t know which part of the body was scanned.
His doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, later said it was “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues” and called the results “perfectly normal.”
The White House has said Trump will also see a dentist while at Walter Reed on Tuesday, which would be his third dental visit this year. His two previous dental visits were in Florida in January and again earlier this month.
The White House did not disclose what dental work the president had done other than state that the visits were “scheduled dental appointments.”
Trump has also said he’s taken three cognitive tests.
“No president, think of this, has ever taken one,” he bragged earlier this month, saying he “aced” each of them.