Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Furiously Denies Suggestion Of Mini-Stroke As Reason For Irregular Walter Reed Exam
NBC News: Trump Raises Eyebrows With Tweet Declaring He Did Not Have 'A Series Of Mini-Strokes'
President Donald Trump posted a baffling tweet Tuesday declaring that he has not had a series of "mini-strokes" — and he had the White House physician release a statement backing up his claim. "It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. Never happened to THIS candidate - FAKE NEWS," Trump tweeted. (Groegorian, 9/1)
CNN: Pence Was On Standby To 'Take Over' During Trump's Unannounced Walter Reed Visit, New Book Reports
Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency during President Donald Trump's unannounced visit to Walter Reed hospital in November 2019, according to a copy of New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt's forthcoming book obtained by CNN. Trump had undergone a "quick exam and labs" as part of his annual physical out of anticipation of a "very busy 2020," the White House had said of the trip at the time. Schmidt writes, however, that he learned "in the hours leading up to Trump's trip to the hospital, word went out in the West Wing for the vice president to be on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized." Schmidt does not specify the sourcing for this reporting beyond "I learned." (LeBlanc, 9/1)
CNBC: Trump Doctor Says President Has Not Had Stroke Or Heart Emergencies
President Donald Trump’s doctor, in an extraordinary official statement issued at the behest of the president Tuesday, said that Trump has not experienced or been evaluated for a stroke, mini-stroke or heart-related emergencies. (Mangan, 9/1)
The Hill: Pence Says He Doesn't 'Recall' Being Put On Standby During Trump Walter Reed Visit
Vice President Pence said Tuesday that he doesn’t “recall” being told to be on “standby” when President Trump made an unannounced visit to Walter Reed Medical Center last year. “I don’t recall being told to be on standby,” Pence told Fox News’s Bret Baier when pressed on an account included in a new book from New York Times correspondent Michael Schmidt. “I was informed that the president had a doctor’s appointment.” (Chalfant, 9/1)
The Washington Post: What We Know About Trump’s Trip To A Hospital In November
Shortly before 3 p.m. on Nov. 16, President Trump arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The White House pool reporter on duty described the president as leaving the White House a half-hour earlier, “wearing a long dark overcoat and carrying what looked like a tan rectangle-shaped folder or envelope under his arm.” Until the presidential motorcade arrived at the hospital, though, news of Trump’s departure wasn’t reportable. And with that, a mystery was born. (Bump, 9/1)
