The White House has given some rare insight into Donald Trump's health.
Though the president is notoriously mysterious when it comes to divulging details about his health — he raised eyebrows earlier this year when he suggested he is 6'3" and weighs 224 pounds — earlier this week, he was examined for swelling in his legs, which was visible in certain photos, as was bruising on his hands.
The White House confirmed on Thursday that the former reality TV star, 79, has since been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which valves inside certain veins don't work the way they should.
© GettyPer CNN, Trump's press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said he underwent a "comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies" with the White House Medical Unit.
She read a note from the president's physician, Capt. Sean Barbabella, which stated that "bilateral lower extremity venous doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, ICD-9, a common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70."
The note maintained there was "no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease," and that Trump's lab testing was all "within normal limits."
© Getty ImagesTrump also underwent an echocardiogram, which found "no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness," she said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, chronic venous insufficiency "happens when your leg veins become damaged and can't work as they should. Normally, valves in your leg veins keep blood flowing back up to your heart. But CVI damages those valves, causing blood to pool in your legs. This increases pressure in your leg veins and causes symptoms like swelling and ulcers."
© Getty"CVI may cause mild symptoms at first. But over time, this condition may interfere with your quality of life and lead to serious complications," it adds.
Trump, who will be 80 years old next year, is not only the first convicted felon to hold office, but he is also the oldest person to be elected president, and the oldest American to take the presidential oath of office.
© Getty ImagesThough he has long been known for his erratic behavior and rambling tirades, he gave an especially rambling speech this week in Pennsylvania that raised concern, one in which he claimed that his late paternal uncle, Dr. John Trump — a physicist who helped develop radar systems during WWII — taught notorious future terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, at MIT, and that he had asked his uncle what Kaczynski, who died in 2023, was like as a student.
Kaczynski however did not attend MIT but rather Harvard, and he was not identified as the man responsible behind the series of bomb attacks that spanned two decades until 1996, 11 years after Trump's uncle's death, making Trump's claims highly unlikely.
