Obama-Appointed Presidential Physician Reveals Why He Gave Trump a Cognitive Exam
President Donald Trump has been given a clean bill of cognitive health by physician to the president Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, who was appointed to his current role during the Obama administration.
Speaking at a White House news briefing on Tuesday, Jackson elaborated on the results of Trump’s recent physical.
But one reporter, NBC’s Hallie Jackson, wanted to know about the president’s mental health, according to The Daily Caller.
Trump was not originally supposed to receive a mental health exam during the physical, and the physician did not intend on checking the president’s cognitive abilities.
At the request of Trump himself, that all changed.
“I had absolutely no concerns about his cognitive ability or his — you know, neurological function,” Jackson said. “I was not going to do a cognitive exam. I had no intention of doing one. The reason we did the cognitive assessment is plain and simple because the president asked me to do it.”
Trump approached his doctor and asked if there was any way his cognitive ability could be assessed. At first, Jackson wasn’t sure if there was, but eventually decided on how to test Trump’s mental health.
Even though that test was “more difficult” compared to the other assessments he could have chosen, Trump did “exceedingly well” on it, leaving no doubt in Jackson’s mind as to whether the president is mentally fit for office.
“The president did exceedingly well on it,” Jackson told reporters. “That was not driven at all by any clinical concerns I had. It was driven by the president’s wishes and he did well on it.”
Trump scored a perfect 30/30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, whose stated goal is to “assist Health Professionals in the detection of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.”
Trump’s cognitive health exam came as part of a physical he underwent last week, the initial results of which were released Friday, as reported by CNN.
Jackson said Tuesday the president is in “excellent health.”
Questions have arisen regarding Trump’s mental health following claims made about the president in author Michael Wolff’s new book — “Fire and Fury.”
But in response, Trump has pushed back on these claims, saying he is a “very stable genius.”
As physician to the president, Jackson is also responsible for the medical concerns of the first family, Vice President Mike Pence and the staff of the White House, as well as those who visit the residence.
Jackson has served as White House physician for the past three presidential administrations, and was appointed to his current role in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama, according to Newsweek.
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