Trump says he "may go" to Middle East
Washington — President Trump is going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Friday morning for what the White House says is his "routine yearly checkup," just six months after undergoing what the White House at the time described as his "annual physical examination" at the same facility.
When asked, the White House declined to explain why the president is undergoing a second yearly checkup. Mr. Trump, 79, may travel to the Middle East in the days after his medical visit, the White House said Wednesday, after he announced the first phase of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
"On Friday morning, President Trump will visit Walter Reed Medical Center for a planned meeting and remarks with the troops," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement late Wednesday. "While there, President Trump will stop by for his routine yearly check up. He will then return to the White House. President Trump is considering going to the Middle East shortly thereafter."
The president is able to receive basic medical care at the White House from the physician to the president, but presidents typically go to Walter Reed for more extensive examinations and procedures.
The president's annual physical results as released by the White House in April showed no abnormalities, aside from minor sun damage — and scarring "on the right ear from a gunshot wound" — a result of the assassination attempt against him in July 2024. His April records also say that he had a colonoscopy in July 2024 and was recommended to undergo another in 2027.
First lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his wife Leena Al Ashqar watch the second half of the Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
Pamela Smith / AP
After the president was seen with swollen ankles at the FIFA Club World Cup and a bruised hand on multiple occasions, Leavitt in July told the press that according to the readout from the president's April exam, his health was normal. The latest full exam by the White House Medical Unit, however, revealed the president has chronic venous insufficiency.
File: A bruise is visible on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump's right hand during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in the Oval Office at the White House on August 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
According to Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic, chronic venous insufficiency occurs when veins in the legs do not function normally, leading to poor blood flow back up to the heart. The president's physician, Capt. Sean Barbabella, said that an examination revealed no evidence of a more serious condition such as deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease, and the president remains in "excellent" overall health. The White House has said the president's bruised hand is a result of the extensive handshaking that's part of his job.
Olivia Rinaldi contributed to this report.
Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
