White House Doctor: There's a Simple Reason Why Trump Can Eat as Much McDonald's as He Wants
President Donald Trump has been given a clean bill of health by physician to the president Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, who indicated that despite the president’s love of fast food, he has stayed in relatively good shape through the years.
Speaking at a White House news briefing on Tuesday, Jackson elaborated on the results of Trump’s recent physical, noting that the president’s overall and cardiac health is “excellent.”
ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, though, wanted to know how Trump can be in such good shape, given reports that he frequently eats unhealthy fast food and rarely exercises.
In his response, Jackson could only speculate on one simple reason — Trump has good genes.
“It’s called genetics,” he said, later adding that “it’s just the way God made him.”
“Some people have great genes.”
Jackson continued, joking that had Trump eaten better over the past two decades, it’s possible he would have had the chance to lead an extraordinarily long life.
“I told the president that if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old,” the White House doctor said, garnering laughter from the assembled reporters. “I mean, he has incredible — he has incredible genes, I just assume. If I didn’t watch what I ate, I wouldn’t have the cardiac and overall health that he has.”
Jackson also clarified that he doesn’t believe Trump’s diet solely consists of fast food anymore, especially considering that he has the entire staff of White House chefs at his disposal.
“He’s eating what they’re — what the chefs are cooking for him now, and they’re cooking a much healthier diet for him now,” he said
The president’s eating habits have been well-documented. In a recent book about his run for the presidency, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie wrote that there were “four major food groups” in Trump’s diet — “McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke.”
Once, Trump’s dinner order from McDonald’s reportedly consisted of “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted,” which adds up to roughly 2,500 calories.
According to Jackson, Trump currently weighs 239 pounds with a body mass index of 29.9, meaning he is overweight but not obese, as his BMI is just under 30, USA Today reported.
Due to the president’s current weight, Jackson has recommended that he lose between 10 and 15 pounds.
Trump’s physical state was not the only aspect of his health that Jackson assessed.
Though Jackson did not originally plan to test Trump’s mental health during the physical, that all changed at the president’s request.
“I had absolutely no concerns about his cognitive ability or his — you know, neurological function,” Jackson said. “I was not going to do a cognitive exam. I had no intention of doing one. The reason we did the cognitive assessment is plain and simple because the president asked me to do it.”
Trump approached his doctor and asked if there was any way his cognitive ability could be assessed. At first, Jackson wasn’t sure if there was, but eventually decided on how to test Trump’s mental health.
Even though that test was “more difficult” compared to the other assessments he could have chosen, Trump did “exceedingly well” on it, leaving no doubt in Jackson’s mind as to whether the president is mentally fit for office.
The president did exceedingly well on it,” Jackson told reporters. “That was not driven at all by any clinical concerns I had. It was driven by the president’s wishes and he did well on it.”
Trump scored a perfect 30/30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, whose stated goal is to “assist Health Professionals in the detection of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.”
Overall, Jackson said that Trump is “absolutely he is fit for duty,” even if he serves as president through 2024.
“I think he will remain fit for duty for the remainder of this term and even the remainder of another term if he is elected,” the physician said, according to CNN.
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