Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Insists Surprise Walter Reed Visit Was 'Very Routine' As Speculation Continues Over His Health
The Associated Press: Trump Says He Went Through ‘Very Routine Physical’
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he went through a “very routine physical” when he visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center over the weekend. The president complained that first lady Melania Trump and some of his staff members expressed concern about his health based on media reports about Saturday’s trip to the hospital. He said it’s the media that’s “sick.” (Freking, 11/19)
Politico: Trump Says Media Panicked Melania Into Thinking He Had A Heart Attack
[Trump] told reporters that he was greeted by a panicked first lady and communications department when he arrived back at the White House due to media coverage of the trip. “I went for a physical. And I came back and my wife said, ‘Darling are you OK? … Oh they’re reporting you may have had a heart attack,’” Trump explained. “I said, ‘Why did I have a heart attack?’ ‘Because you went to Walter Reed Medical Center’ — that's where we go when we get the physicals.” (Oprysko, 11/19)
CNN: The White House Shifts Description Of Trump's Visit To Walter Reed
The White House has offered shifting descriptions of President Donald Trump's medical exam in the days since he made an unscheduled Saturday visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Trump and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham initially billed Trump's visit as the first part of the President's annual physical. But two days later, the President's doctor described the hospital visit as an "interim checkup," a term physicians told CNN implies a separate visit that is not part of an annual physical. (Diamond, 11/19)
NBC News: Trump Claims Surprise Hospital Visit Was 'Routine'
Although there is nothing unusual about a president visiting the hospital for an annual physical, these events are typically announced on the president’s public schedule, and the White House press corps is given advance notice. Annual presidential physicals are not typically conducted in two parts. Trump had no events on his public schedule on Saturday when he made the hospital visit. His last physical was in February. (Egan, 11/19)
