President Donald Trump’s health is front and center again after reports he’s gained more than 20 pounds since his 2024 campaign for the White House.
Trump’s health problems are well-known. They’ve been covered extensively since his return to office in 2025. Now doctors are voicing new concerns about his weight gain.
A report in The Washington Post on Sunday said that the pounds he’s put on in just the past couple of years are putting him at a “significant health risk.”
Trump’s listed height is a widely disputed 6 feet 3, and a jail booking from his 2023 election interference case in Georgia listed his weight at 215 pounds, the Post reported, although it’s unclear where that number actually came from.
Results from his May physical exam show he weighs 238 pounds, a 23-pound gain in just a few years.
The 80-year-old’s penchant for fast food and his dislike of exercise are well known. The president has regularly ordered McDonald’s deliveries to the White House, including a campaign stunt involving a DoorDash driver in April.
“Maybe junk food is good, and the other food is no good,” Trump said in May, according to the Post. “I know many, many people that all they do is watch their weight, their this, their that, and they kicked the bucket, and here we are. I feel great.”
Post writer Dan Diamond also said in the story that Trump “has appeared heavier in photos than he did during his campaign, and the administration said he gained 14 pounds between his most recent annual medical check-ups.”
“White House physicians have said they’ve advised Trump … to focus on weight loss, improving his diet and sustained physical activity. Outside doctors put it more directly: The 80-year-old president would be safer if he reduced his waistline,” Diamond wrote.
Social media erupted with sneers and insults.
“Who cares whether Donald Drumpf looks like a fat pig or a fat duck. Only his performance counts, and he is failing horrifically,” X poster Steve Jobless proclaimed.
View on Threads
Social media users zeroed in on Trump’s appearance during recent travel, particularly an unusually oversized, “enormous” and long jacket that some compared to a raincoat. Commenters also flagged the repeated adjustment of his belt buckle as behavior they considered unusual.
“It’s the adjustment of the belt buckle that stood out as something I don’t think I’d see him do previously,” one person wrote. “Not to mention, that jacket looks ENORMOUS. Like, even bigger than usual. He sure did a lot of stair climbing/descending, too. Off Marine One. Up AF1. Down AF1. Up to the cockpit on Marine One. That seemed weird.”
“The jacket looks like an outdoor rain jacket. It’s super long and off. It’s always been poorly fitted, but now its dimensions are very off,” another chimed in.
Just last week at two White House events Trump’s swollen hand and a bluish-black thumb nail spurred renewed speculation about his health and fitness for office. He’s the oldest person to ever win the presidency.
Trump has been covering up ugly purple lesions on his hands. The White House has blamed it on his daily aspirin use and too much handshaking.
Last summer, Trump admitted he suffers from a condition known as chronic venous insufficiency, which affects many older Americans. It impacts the blood flow to the heart and causes swollen ankles, which have also plagued Trump during his second term.
Earlier this month, at a golf outing, reporters spotted bruises on Trump’s arms. He wore a short-sleeved shirt, something he doesn’t do often. It’s the first time his arm blemishes were seen in public. Pictures taken at the time also appear to show scrapes on his arms. Trump also wore bandages on two fingers on his right hand.
In May, he underwent his third physical exam in the past 13 months. Last year, he had two CT scans over a six-month period.
Trump has tried repeatedly to downplay the rumors that he’s seriously ill, but it hasn’t helped. He’s also taken at least four cognitive tests in just over a year. He has tried to pass them off as IQ tests.
He has repeatedly bragged about “acing” these tests, which experts say are used to diagnose dementia and other cognitive disorders.
Since retaking the presidency, Trump has fallen asleep repeatedly in public. He’s also given long, nonsensical, and rambling speeches, slurring his words and easily losing his train of thought.
