Donald Trump Shock: Doctor Claims POTUS' Bruised Hands Caused by 'Handshaking'

Donald Trump's latest White House medical report, released late on Friday in Washington, claims the 79-year-old is in 'excellent health' and that bruising on his hands is simply the result of 'frequent handshaking' and aspirin use, a conclusion that some online critics have branded a 'total joke.'

The news came after the White House quietly published the health summary at about 11 p.m., an hour more commonly associated with burying bad news than celebrating a clean bill of health. The document, prepared by Trump's physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, following tests at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday, immediately triggered a familiar cycle of scrutiny, scepticism and partisan spin over Trump and his fitness to remain in office.

Trump Health Report Sparks Backlash Online

Trump underwent a three-hour medical exam at the military hospital, which the report said involved a CT scan, other heart imaging, cancer screenings and 'preventative assessments' by 22 specialists. Barbabella concluded that the president is 'fully fit' to serve as commander-in-chief, echoing previous White House medicals that have leaned heavily into reassuring language.

Trump himself wasted no time framing the outcome in typically emphatic terms, declaring that everything had checked out 'perfectly.' According to the report, he weighs 238 pounds (108 kilograms), 14 pounds (6 kilograms) more than at his last documented medical examination in April 2025, and stands at 6ft 3in (1.9 metres). That gives Trump a body mass index of 29.7, placing him comfortably in the overweight range and just below the clinical threshold for obesity of 30.

Even so, the official summary states that his 'cognitive and physical performance are excellent,' and that doctors have merely given him guidance on diet, physical activity and weight loss. On paper, at least, it portrays a president whose age and weight are being managed rather than posing an immediate concern.

What caught public attention most, however, was a smaller detail. The report notes 'bruising on Trump's hands,' which it describes as 'minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking' and characterises as a 'common and benign effect of aspirin therapy.' Barbabella recommends switching the president to low-dose aspirin, suggesting the issue is more a matter of fine-tuning medication than alarm.

On X, formerly Twitter, that explanation went down badly with some readers. One user called the document a 'total joke,' another dismissed it as 'not a medical report it's a press release,' while a third flatly labelled it 'fiction.' None of that is evidence that the doctor's account is wrong, but it underlines how little trust many Americans now place in any official statement about Trump, including from his own physicians.

The Politics of Presidential Health

The bruised-hands detail reads almost comically mundane, but it comes loaded with political meaning. The president's team appears keen to depict the marks as the inevitable result of a hyperactive public schedule and old-fashioned politicking. In Barbabella's telling, Trump's 'demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being.'

Medical specifics in the report are largely reassuring. It says Trump shows strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall health, and that nothing abnormal was detected. Last year the White House disclosed that he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a relatively common condition in older adults in which blood pools in the legs. The new report mentions 'slight lower leg swelling' but claims there has been 'improvement from last year.'

The cognitive element is even more emphatic. Trump was again given the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a standard screening tool for dementia and cognitive impairment. According to the doctors, he scored 30 out of 30, the same perfect score reported last year and in 2018. For supporters, that figure is a rebuttal to recurring questions about his mental sharpness. For sceptics, it is yet another example of a narrative that seems almost too neat.

Still, none of the online reaction so far has been backed by alternative medical evidence; it is commentary rather than counter-diagnosis. There is no independent confirmation that anything material has been omitted from the White House's account, and the full underlying test data have not been released to the public. Until or unless that changes, much of the debate over Trump's health rests on trust, suspicion and political loyalty rather than verifiable fact, and should be taken with a grain of salt.