Trump says he takes more aspirin than recommended by his doctors
- - Trump says he takes more aspirin than recommended by his doctors
Jonathan AllenJanuary 2, 2026 at 2:48 AM
0
President Donald Trump's doctor said that he takes 325 mg of Aspirin per day for "cardiac prevention." (Alex Brandon / AP)
President Donald Trump pushed back on critics who have questioned the state of his health, telling The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday that he denies falling asleep in meetings and takes a higher dose of aspirin than recommended by his doctors.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the Journal, attributing often-visible bruises on his hands — and the makeup he uses to try to cover them — to the medication. “I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising.”
Trump’s physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, told the Journal in a statement that the president takes 325 milligrams of aspirin a day for “cardiac prevention.”
Aspirin acts as an anticoagulant, meant to help prevent blood clots from forming. Blood clots that travel to the heart can lead to heart attacks. The medication can also increase a person’s risk of bleeding because it prevents clots from forming in wounds.
Makeup appears to cover a bruise on the back of President Donald Trump's hand at the White House on Feb. 24, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
The 79-year-old president, who in January 2025 became the oldest man ever sworn in to the nation’s top office, has spent more time than he would like in the last year defending his vigor and vitality. In addition to the bruising, he has appeared to fall asleep during meetings. The White House also revealed in October that he had undergone advanced imaging of his torso, setting off speculation about the reason for the diagnostic measures.
“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump told the Journal in describing the CT scan performed on him. In October, he had said the imaging was an MRI. “I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”
Barbabella told the Journal that the CT scan was used to “definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues” and that it discovered no abnormalities. But Barbabella also told the Journal that Trump has a condition called “superficial chronic venous insufficiency,” which caused swelling in his lower legs earlier this year.
Trump said in the interview that he wore compression socks to help with the problem but discarded them because “I didn’t like them.”
The president and his aides may be particularly sensitive to issues surrounding his age and health because his predecessor, President Joe Biden, was undermined by obvious signs of decline during their 2024 presidential election battle. Ultimately, Biden dropped out of the race — but remained in the presidency — following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Now, Trump finds it necessary to combat the narrative that age is taking a toll on his presidency, and that appears to be annoying to him.
“Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” Trump said in the Journal interview. “My health is perfect.”
At the same time, Trump said that he has asked his aides to limit his schedule — a move that Biden undertook as he tried to save his candidacy in 2024 — so that he can focus more on the most important meetings. The Journal reported that Trump starts his day in the Oval Office around 10 a.m. and typically works until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.
Famously enamored of golf, Trump told the newspaper that he doesn’t exercise outside the workouts he gets on the links.
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” Trump said. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”
Despite a series of episodes where he has appeared to fall asleep — dating back as far as his 2024 trial in New York — Trump suggested that he was merely resting his eyes at times, including a recent Cabinet meeting where he was captured on video.
“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”
Source: “AOL General News”
