For weeks, President Donald Trump maintained that he had undergone an MRI at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October, but in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, he and his physician confirmed that the procedure was actually a CT scan, reports Baltimore Chronicle via the ABC. “It wasn’t an MRI,” Trump told the Journal. “It was less than that. It was a scan.”
Last month, Trump had insisted he received an MRI, telling reporters on Air Force One that he would “absolutely” release the results of the procedure. The White House has not clarified why the CT scan was performed instead of an MRI, though Trump previously indicated that the imaging was part of his annual physical examination.
Trump’s physician, Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, told the Journal that the president had in fact undergone a CT scan. Barbabella noted that the doctors initially considered performing either an MRI or a CT scan. Both types of imaging are widely used to evaluate internal organs and body structures: MRI employs a strong magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images, while CT scanning relies on X-rays.
On December 1, the White House released the results of Trump’s advanced imaging tests, describing them as “perfectly normal.” Barbabella stated that the imaging serves to confirm the president’s overall health and to detect potential issues at an early stage. The CT scan was conducted specifically “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues” and showed no abnormalities.
In a statement to ABC News on Thursday, Barbabella affirmed that Trump remains “in exceptional health and perfectly suited to execute his duties as Commander in Chief.” When first discussing the tests in late October, Trump had stated that he received an MRI as part of the advanced imaging exams at Walter Reed, saying at the time, “I got an MRI. It was perfect. I mean, I gave you the full results. We had an MRI and the machine, you know, the whole thing, and it was perfect.”
Earlier we wrote that Jack Smith denies political influence in Trump cases, cites “no historical analog”.
