US President Donald Trump says he is in “perfect” health, takes more aspirin than doctors recommend, uses makeup to cover bruising on his hands, and does not get regular exercise because he finds it “boring”.
In a lengthy interview about his health, Trump also told The Wall Street Journal that he underwent a CT scan in October, after incorrectly telling reporters that he had undergone a more detailed MRI scan.
Trump, 79, is the oldest president inaugurated in US history, and signs of age have been showing. He has appeared to fall asleep in some meetings and not to be able to hear questions.
The Journal said Trump “expressed irritation about the public debate over his health”.
“Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” he said at the start of an “impromptu phone call” as the newspaper prepared to publish a story about Trump’s health.
Trump said he had been taking larger than recommended doses of aspirin for the last 25 years, even as he said it caused him to bruise easily.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump said.
He takes 325mg of aspirin per day, rather than the 81mg dose sometimes recommended by doctors.
“They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” Trump said.
But he does not want to switch routines after so many years. “I’m a little superstitious,” he said.
The president also talked about the medical scan he received at Walter Reed National Medical Center, which he previously said was an MRI scan.
“It wasn’t an MRI,” Trump told the Journal. “It was less than that. It was a scan.”
