CNN doctor demands explanation for canklegate after Trump's physical

President Donald Trump is headed to Walter Reed Military Hospital Tuesday for his "annual" physical that he's had three times since he took office in 2025.

CNN co-host Kate Bolduan recalled Trump's personal letter from his physician that claimed Trump would be the healthiest president in history if he's ever elected. It was later discovered that "Trump dictated that line himself."

In the ten years since, Trump and his White House have faced questions about his health as his ankles swell and bruises pop up on the back of his hands. The Trump team continues to deny there's anything wrong with Trump.

Bolduan said that physicals are not required to be released to the public. Anything that is made public comes from a leader's choice to publish it.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst, agreed that it is mostly a tradition to be transparent about the president's health and it began with Richard Nixon after President Dwight D. Eisenhower had a heart attack. He argued that perhaps it should be legally required to release the results.

"There are so many roles in our society that require annual assessments of physical capacity. You know, pilots, secret service agents, school bus drivers, and for the chief executive of this country and the commander in chief of our armed forces, we should have a clear understanding that the president is fit for duty," said Reiner.

He also said that he's curious to see whether the exam gives "credible explanations for his visible health concerns," such as "his bruising."

Reiner recalled that the White House initially claimed it was due to "vigorous handshaking, which is not credible."

"His severe edema in his ankles severe edema in his ankles, which was described as, you know, Chronic Venous Insufficiency, when just three months before, one year ago, his examination disclosed that he had no edema, which would then make it acute venous insufficiency, which is an entirely different thing," the doctor explained.

"And finally, the president has severe daytime somnolence. He falls asleep very often. He's fallen asleep in the Oval Office on multiple occasions with people talking to him in the Cabinet Room, and was concerned yesterday that he might have fallen asleep at Arlington National Cemetery during Memorial Day observances, and chronic insomnia is a severe illness. It can result in an increase in risk of dementia, a decrease in cognitive effects in older people," he continued.

He noted that it's akin to adding three years of age to one's existing age and can even increase the possibilities of a heart attack. It can also damage mental functions and cause depression.

"So it's a real problem. And the president appears to struggle to stay awake during the day. And I'd like to hear what the White House has done to evaluate why the president has this increased daytime somnolence and what they're doing to address it," Dr. Reiner said.

Bolduan said that as the president prepares to turn 80, it isn't unusual to see medical problems.

"First of all, we've never had an adequate explanation of why the president went to Walter Reed in October for off-cycle testing. The president's team hates taking the president to Walter Reed," said Reiner. "And they only take the president there when there is testing that they need to do that cannot be accomplished at the White House."

Those Walter Reed trips, he said, are only for "something like a cat scan or an MRI scan or some other, uh, invasive modality. And we've never, it's never been adequately explained why they took the president there."

"His physician later said that he went there for preventative testing, which really makes no sense because it creates the kind of concern and speculation," Reiner explained.

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