Former White House Doctor on Trump Annual Medical Exam | GNT

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[00:00:00]Well, Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman is a former White House physician. He worked the White House during the years 2000 to 2013 under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and President Clinton.

[00:00:11]He joins us now from Washington. Dr. Kuhlman, thank you very much indeed for taking the time to speak to us. Based on what we know and what we see in the newspapers, the photographs, the audio clips, how would you say the president is?

[00:00:24]Um I think the president is in average health for a 80-year-old American man.

[00:00:32]Okay, you're not concerned about anything in particular.

[00:00:37]Um the um uh the most important concern I would have is when you're getting a medical report, um are the physicians being truthful and are they being transparent, which for the past decade uh during the three administrations, um uh they have not been.

[00:00:59]Uh there's been um deceit, delusion, denial, and delay. So, um uh it seems to be more political spin as opposed to here's a factual report. Um uh but for an 80-year-old man, the three things that I would check are advanced stage causes cardiovascular disease. So, they should release here's his anatomical functional testing, which they chose not to do completely in the past. Uh cancer, the big three for 80-year-old man are colon cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer. He does seem to be up-to-date on his screening, and he has not had any issue. Um so, I don't have any cancer concerns for him. And the third is uh neurodegenerative uh disease. Every 80-year-old um does have cognitive decline.

[00:01:57]You know, the cognitive decline accelerates in humans past the age of 60.

[00:02:02]Um so, that's memory, reasoning, speed of processing, spatial visualization.

[00:02:08]You know, they put out that, you know, he did a 10 10-minute screening test, uh the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, uh that he passed.

[00:02:17]Um and you know, that that will guide you towards uh a dementia, which I don't think he has a dementia. Uh but um uh 80-year-olds need to be at the top of their game men- man- medically, phys- you know, physically and mentally.

[00:02:35]Um especially if they're uh the president of the United States.

[00:02:40]And just to be clear, what you're saying there is that there's been this delusion and deceit and denial over the last [snorts] decade. That doesn't include, doesn't it, the Biden administration?

[00:02:49]Uh yeah, Trump, Biden, and Trump. So, it's it's not a partisan issue. It's uh um you know, we would hope that whoever's president that they administration and their doctors around them are truthful and they are transparent.

[00:03:07]Here's the test they had and here are the results. And that has not been the case in the past decade.

[00:03:14]And when you've looked at the photographs, I mean, I'm sure you've seen the same ones that everyone else has seen. And, you know, we can see some traces of bruising, for example, on the president's hands, swelling around the ankles. We've seen uh the president falling asleep, uh perhaps a bit more in recent meetings than in meetings during his first term. And I mean, obviously, that's not unusual, is it? As we've been saying, I mean, at the age of 80, a lot of people will be about 20 years into their retirement. Um but what does it tell us?

[00:03:42]Yeah.

[00:03:43]So, the purple splotches on the back of both of his hands, um if you rule out all the underlying causes, uh bleeding disorders, other um uh organ uh disease, which we trust that is competent doctors would do. They just haven't chosen to release that.

[00:04:03]Um then it's very common for something called senile purpura, which are um you have fragile capillaries, and so usually the back of hands of 80-year-olds, you know, think about your grandparents, or the back of their arms, which just even minor trauma uh causes those purple splotches.

[00:04:25]Um he came up with um I'm taking aspirin and it's shaking hands, and we know that nobody shakes hands with their right and left hands, so that doesn't make any sense.

[00:04:37]And that um you would stop uh taking uh aspirin, and that's usually not associated with that.

[00:04:44]So, that's part of that, you know, denial, delusion, deception.

[00:04:49]Um and delay in results.

[00:04:51]Um as far as the swollen ankles, again, um if you've ruled out the underlying causes of uh of heart failure, of um uh other things that cause uh your legs to be swollen, um then you can have uh venous insufficiency, which is a a diagnosis of exclusion. You know, they should have done ultrasound to make sure that doesn't have blood clots in in both legs, which is kind of odd as it's symmetrical. And so, poor venous insufficiency, um we see swollen ankles in people that are overweight, that are sedentary, um and uh the answer to that is you you lose weight and you be more physically active.

[00:05:42]And riding 3 miles on a golf cart does not count as physical activity.

[00:05:47]Um so, if they've ruled out the underlying causes, then [clears throat] um that common thing that we see in 80-year-olds um uh could certainly be the appropriate explanation.

[00:06:01]I mean, we hear President Trump and those around him joking about his penchant for fast food and diet Coke. I mean, just talking about diet for a moment, uh on the scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being terrible and 10 being exemplary, where would you put your understanding of President Trump's diet?

[00:06:23]Um from uh a medical standpoint, um uh if you are uh drinking diet soda, uh that is not the best choice of uh liquids. Uh we know that um water is a better choice. Um he is a lifelong um teetotaler, so he doesn't drink alcohol.

[00:06:44]So, that's a good the um uh it's a good health decision that he's chosen. He's also never smoked, that's a good choice.

[00:06:52]Um it's okay once in a while to eat eat a um hamburger, but we know from a health standpoint to progress to a more plant-based diet um is is more appropriate.

[00:07:06]Um so, um all of us could use improvement in our dietary choices.

[00:07:12]Um uh I I don't think that he's the shining example of uh of healthy uh eating and healthy activity.

[00:07:22]Okay, so you're giving him a on on the scale of 0 to 10, where where where are we going to put him? What do we think? Sort of a five, a six?

[00:07:30]Yeah, maybe a 3.7826.

[00:07:33]>> [laughter] >> Very good answer.

[00:07:35]Um do presidents in these sorts of situations uh in these kinds of medicals tend to ask for advice? I mean, has that been your experience? Does the president when he's going for his medical tend to say to the physician, you know, "What what can I do better?" Or do they do they tend to do that the three presidents you worked for?

[00:07:54]Um so, with uh President Obama, um you know, I asked him um you know, "Hey, we're going to do your physical. Uh here's a list. Uh I gave him a briefing book. He actually read every single thing in that briefing book.

[00:08:10]And uh asked him about uh transparency, asked him about truth.

[00:08:15]He said, "Uh I've learned with the American people, um be truthful with them. Eventually, the truth comes out." Um uh with George W. Bush, uh who was in the top 2% cardiovascular fitness uh uh testing, we would do uh Ken Cooper uh aerobics um you know, testing with him with the the uh the treadmill.

[00:08:39]And uh he also um you know, followed uh the traditional um assessment of heart function, of lung function, of uh neurologic function. And same thing with uh uh President Clinton, uh they uh you know, they did not try to redirect medical assessment of themselves to political statements.

[00:09:06]Um and just, you know, stick to the facts and you know, be truthful and transparent with the the American people.

[00:09:14]And that is usually um kind of the best advice for any patient is um you know, don't think you're smarter than everybody else. Um find a a physician uh that you trust.

[00:09:29]And um uh be an active participant in um medical evaluations um and, uh, pursuing better health.

[00:09:41]Yeah, I think I I can tell from what you're saying that what you might be alluding to. I mean, do tell me if I'm wrong, but during President Trump's first run for the White House in 2015, he had a physician by the name of Harold Bornstein, uh, who wrote the following at the time, "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state, unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever to be elected to the presidency." Um, it later turned out that President Trump had actually dictated, uh, that statement word for word. So, I mean, do you think just to sort of, um, you know, sum up what we're talking about with regards to the level of trust, public trust in what emerges from these, uh, medicals that, uh, you know, no one really believes very much of what what what what's said about the president. And and plus some of it's private, isn't it?

[00:10:31]Well, um, you know, we we certainly have laws in the US that protect, um, patient privacy.

[00:10:40]And, uh, so the patients, they have the final say on what gets released. So, with President Clinton, with President Bush, with President Obama, uh, they would read through the, uh, >> [snorts] >> the multi-page report that, um, I would write or the other doctors would write, uh, before me.

[00:11:00]And, uh, to my knowledge, they never changed, uh, a word or statement, and they never added in, um, surpro- uh, you know, extra stuff.

[00:11:11]Um, sure, Dr. Bornstein, um, Trump pre- uh, candidate Trump wrote that for himself, and the doctor signed his name to it.

[00:11:21]Uh, we know that's inappropriate, but, you know, that could be cast aside as that's, you know, that's political theater.

[00:11:28]Um, I would be more concerned that after he was elected, uh, the White House physicians um that were active duty military members, um you know, they came out and um gave inaccurate height, weight, body fat. It's certainly okay if a patient says, "I don't want anybody to know how much I weigh or how overweight or obese I am." That's okay. You can keep that to yourself.

[00:11:56]Fast forward to Vice President Harris.

[00:11:58]When you read Vice President Kamala Harris's report, she does not ever list her height or weight or body fat cuz sometimes I think um females choose not to divulge that information, and that is perfectly okay. Just don't lie about it.

[00:12:15]And so that's where um the 2018 year report is filled of inaccuracies that just every medical person in the US and and the around the globe knows is just not accurate.

[00:12:31]So supposing there is something really wrong with President Trump, I mean, would we expect I mean, should we realistically expect that it will be disclosed or do you think it will be somehow glossed over?

[00:12:45]Well, um you know, I wrote a book Transforming Presidential Health Care, and in it, unfortunately, I cited examples in America's 250-year history uh where we've hidden illnesses um that presidents have had, whether it's uh President Wilson um uh with his massive stroke.

[00:13:07]And unfortunately, the White House doctor, who was a young dashing uh Navy doctor, who jumped from lieutenant to admiral, and introduced his second wife to him, um uh >> So, he does not seem to have um cardiac uh dysfunction and he seems to be uh about average.

[00:14:28]are assessing uh his heart status.

[00:14:32]Um we know that last year he got he called it an MRI. His doctor called it advanced imaging.

[00:14:39]And they still haven't said exactly what it was, but many in the health community think that it's a CAT scan uh of his heart that looks at his calcium score, which would help uh risk stratify him of low, medium, or high uh cardiovascular uh disease status. And based on his diet and his uh hyperlipidemia that he's taking two uh powerful pills um and his uh lifelong uh activity level um my opinion, I don't know for certain, would be that he has uh some type of uh uh coronary artery uh ath- atherosclerosis um which uh you know, every 80-year-old American male has unless they are a strict vegan and, uh, super thin and super physically active.

[00:15:36]I mean, we've all known men in their 80s or approaching the 80 mark. I mean, he doesn't look too bad, does he? I mean, for someone who's who's going to be 80 in less than 3 weeks from now. And and you know, in thinking about his job, you know, the level of stress, the interrupted sleep, the terrifying high-stakes decisions he has to make, the foreign travel that he has to do.

[00:15:58]You know, thinking about that and then thinking about the photographs, the sort of the before and after photos of of President Obama, for example, who looked quite gray by the time he left the White House and he certainly didn't have much gray hair when he arrived. I mean, what sort of a toll do you think a 4-year presidential term takes on a human being? I mean, could you say that 4 years in the White House is equivalent to 10 years in in in ordinary life, perhaps?

[00:16:23]You know, I think there's, um, lots of, uh, people that would kind of agree with you and, um, you know, Bush going from 54 to 62, it's 8 years of aging in front of you. Um, Obama was 47 going to 55. Um, I don't know if it's been scientifically validated that there is an increased to aging process uh, during, um, 8 years in office with with President Trump, it will kind of be spread over 12 years.

[00:16:55]And then also for Biden, even though he was in office 4 years, you know, he, uh, you know, you got to you go back to, you know, 2009 when he started, um, as vice president. So, that's actually a 16-year time span. So, I think that's that's kind of a common perception that all of us have. I don't know if it's, um, scientifically validated. Okay. I mean, one thing that's really striking at the moment, a poll that I saw says that 51% of Americans think that President Trump's mental faculties have declined in the past year.

[00:17:30]Four out of 10 Americans believe that President Trump has does not have the mental he does have the mental sharpness to do the job. So, four out of 10 think he does have the sharpness to to do the job. That's down though seven points in a matter of a few months. Um, I mean, is that quite alarming, do you think?

[00:17:49]Well, um, my mantra is actually no politics, no politics, no policy, probably no polls, just trusted medical advice.

[00:17:59]Um, I wouldn't put any stock in that.

[00:18:01]Um, you know, maybe, uh, sometimes people answer polls based on, uh, the price at the, uh, pump.

[00:18:13]Um, I that's where I would say we need, um, objective evidence-based, um, screening. So, doing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, um, is certainly a good start. Uh, there's other testing that you can do that checks the executive cognitive functions that I would recommend. There is also some advanced imaging, you know, we know he had a CT of the brain when, um, uh, he was nicked in the ear by the, uh, assassin's bullet, um, in Baltimore Pennsylvania. They chose not to release those results, uh, cuz it may not have been, you know, it may have showed that the size of the size of the brain or the aging of the brain is consistent with a 79-year-old man.

[00:18:58]Um, so, I would I would rather, um, evaluate it from a medical and scientific standpoint than trust what, uh, polls of, uh, humans uh, come up with.

[00:19:12]Okay, and just lastly, Dr. Coleman, I mean, in your opinion, what is the maximum age a US president should be if they are to be in optimum physical and mental shape?

[00:19:29]So, um the Constitution of the US does not list one. It just says, you know, if you think back 250 years ago almost, James Madison, when he finished his final draft and sent it to the Second Continental Congress, he was 36.

[00:19:47]Um men at the time, um 20-year-olds only lived one in five chance of getting to age 60.

[00:19:54]So, it was beyond comprehension that anybody, you know, would be functional past 60.

[00:20:00]George Washington finished his second term in office at about age 65 and died 18 months later at age 67.

[00:20:09]Um I would not put a top age limit. I think for any elected official um at the age of 70, there should be cognitive testing that is required of all of them. And I laid that out in the book Transforming Presidential Healthcare.

[00:20:33]Um maybe who knows it best is President George W. Bush during the last election.

[00:20:41]Um at the time it was still Biden versus Trump and he said, um you know, Bush said, "I'm too old for the job and I'm younger than both of those men."

[00:20:52]And so, he's the man that knows knows uh you know, Clint Eastwood, a man's got to know his limitations. And unfortunately, that narcissistic trait that says, "I can be president of the US" also keeps them and everybody around them to um uh you know, keep that um that quest for power alive and sometimes uh you need to step aside and let um and let others um with more um vigor, ability, and function um you know, lead the world.

[00:21:30]Okay, we're going to have to leave it there. We really appreciate you being so generous with your time. Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, uh former White House physician, thank you very much indeed.

[00:21:38]Good to be with you.