Donald Trump, who will become America’s oldest serving president at the end of his second term, admitted he’s defying doctor’s orders and taking steps to try and mitigate speculation about his health.
The president confessed he is dosing more aspirin than his doctors recommend because ‘I’m a little superstitious,’ the president confessed to the Wall Street Journal.
‘They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,’ Trump added. ‘I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?’
The large dose of 325 milligrams per day, which Trump says he’s been taking for 25 years, causes him to bruise more easily and his doctors have encouraged him to take a lower dosage of aspirin. A low dose is usually approximately 81 milligrams, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Taking higher dosages can significantly increases the severity of side effects including internal bleeding in the stomach, intestines and brain – especially in older patients. But the biggest benefit is potentially avoiding a heart attack by keeping blood-flow strong.
Trump’s hands are often pictured with a glob of cover-upmake up that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms is concealing bruising, which she says are a result of the president regularly shaking people’s hands.
Some aides claim that they have to shout at meetings because Trump’s hearing is declining and pictures have frequently emerged showing the president struggling to keep his eyes open during White House events.
Instead of listening to medical advice, the 79-year-old is relying on what he calls his ‘good genetics.’
Trump is the oldest person ever to assume the office of the presidency. The record he set in 2016 was broken by Joe Biden in 2020 and then broken yet again when Trump won a second, non-consecutive term in 2024.
Biden was 82 when his presidency ended last January but Trump will clock in 82 years and seven months if he serves through January 2029.
Biden received a flood of criticism over his health and declining mental acuity during his four years in office. There was widespread reporting on concerns even within his own team over whether he was fit to continue leading the country.
Just four months after leaving office, Biden announced in May 2025 that he was diagnosed with an aggressive stage of prostate cancer that metastasized to his bones. Medical experts were doubtful the diagnosis really happened after he was out of office considering presidents’ health are closely monitored throughout their term and the cancer was advanced to Stage Four.
In addition to the visible bruising, Trump also had a brief stint wearing compression socks for his swelled ankles that he stopped wearing because he didn’t like them, according to the Journal.
He also divulged that he regrets undergoing advanced imaging during his check-up at Walter Reed Medical Center because it opened him up to more scrutiny over his age and health.
‘In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,’ Trump said regarding his decision to get a cardiovascular and abdominal scan in October 2025. ‘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.’
For years – spanning back to his first term COVID-19 diagnosis and colonoscopy – Trump has sought to conceal or downplay any conditions that could lead to any speculation about his health.
But the fragility of his skin has become so obvious that even Attorney General Pam Bondi caused his hand to bleed in July 2024 when her ring nicked him during a high-five at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump apparently often brings up the bloody incident to his White House aides.
People close to the president tell the WSJ that he is publicly and privately showing signs of aging.
Trump gets little sleep but maintains a rigorous schedule, but says he’s always gotten by on little shut-eye.
He denied to the Journal claims by aides, donors and friends saying that he struggles to hear and insisted that despite photo evidence he doesn’t fall asleep at cabinet meetings or Oval Office events.
Trump’s only apparent physical activity is regularly golfing and he’s known to consume a sodium and fat-heavy diet of fast food like McDonalds and Diet Coke.
He even kept his red button in the Oval Office from his first term that summons an aide to bring him a soda on command.
