United States President, Donald Trump, told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he takes a higher dose of aspirin than his doctors recommend, attributing the visible bruising on his hands to the regimen.
According to CNN, the disclosure comes amid renewed questions about his health and fitness for office.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump, 79, explained. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
“They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” he added. “I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising.”
The interview appears to be one of Trump’s most detailed conversations with journalists regarding his health, as concerns over his age, transparency, and physical condition have grown.
Observers noted bruising on his right hand predating his return to the White House, but attention intensified after he began covering it with makeup and bandages and shielding it from cameras.
Questions have also arisen about swelling in his legs and moments when he seemed to doze during public events.
Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, told the Journal that the president takes 325 milligrams of aspirin daily.
By comparison, Mayo Clinic guidelines typically recommend a low dose of 75 to 100 milligrams, with 81 milligrams being common.
While aspirin can prevent blood clots, it carries a risk of excessive bleeding, and recent guidelines suggest many adults, especially those in their 70s, may not benefit from daily aspirin therapy.
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiology professor at George Washington University and former cardiologist for Vice President Dick Cheney, said Trump’s disclosures raise new questions.
“It’s uncommon to see that kind of bruising with one aspirin a day,” Reiner noted. “My question is, ‘Does the president take any medications that have not been disclosed by the White House?’”
Barbabella defended the president’s condition, saying Thursday, “President Trump’s medical evaluations and laboratory results continue to show excellent metabolic health, and have revealed his cardiovascular health puts him 14 years younger than his age. Overall, the President remains in exceptional health and perfectly suited to execute his duties as Commander in Chief.”
Recent appearances show bruising or discoloration on Trump’s left hand in addition to the long-standing right-hand bruise.
The White House has said the bruising is from frequent handshakes combined with aspirin use.
Reiner emphasized that while 325 milligrams is not considered an extremely high dose, there is no medical necessity for that amount daily.
“Aspirin has been studied in varied doses, and the reason why 81 milligrams is given to people is that’s the dose which appears to have the best combination of protection from clotting events and bleeding caused by the drug,” he said. “In other words, 325 milligrams increases the bleeding risk but doesn’t increase the efficacy. So we never use that.”
He added, “The big issue here is transparency. All of these issues just highlight how opaque The White House has been about the president’s health.”
Trump also clarified details about an October scan he previously described as an MRI. “It wasn’t an MRI,” he said. “It was less than that. It was a scan.” Barbabella said it was a CT scan performed “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues,” and that the results were normal, echoing a prior statement that the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging showed “perfectly normal” findings.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s disclosure, saying, “The President’s physicians and the White House have always maintained the President received advanced imaging. Additional details on the imaging have been disclosed by the President himself, because he continues to be the most transparent and open president in history, and has nothing to hide.”
Regarding his legs, Trump discussed treatments for chronic venous insufficiency, including compression socks, which he said he “didn’t like.” He also downplayed interest in regular exercise, noting, “I just don’t like it. It’s boring. To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”
Trump addressed appearing to doze at recent events and his hearing. “I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said of moments when his eyes were shut. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.” On hearing, he said he only struggles “when there’s a lot of people talking,” but otherwise dismissed concerns.
Trump has long questioned his predecessor’s fitness, alleging that Joe Biden was unaware of some official actions. Biden denies these claims and withdrew from the 2024 race after a debate performance that drew scrutiny over his own health.
