Trump ‘In Excellent Health’ but Should Lose Weight, Says Presidential Physician

US President Donald Trump reacts during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 27 May 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump reacts during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 27 May 2026. (EPA)
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Trump ‘In Excellent Health’ but Should Lose Weight, Says Presidential Physician

US President Donald Trump reacts during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 27 May 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump reacts during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 27 May 2026. (EPA)

Donald Trump's doctor said he was in "excellent health" but advised him to lose weight, the White House said Friday, after the US president's annual medical check-up weeks before his 80th birthday.

Republican Trump, the oldest president ever inaugurated, has repeatedly boasted about his mental and physical vigor compared to his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

But Trump's medical and dental check-up on Tuesday at the Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington followed questions about his apparent sleepiness in meetings and bruising on his hand.

"President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function," said Trump's doctor, US Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, in a memo published by the White House.

The three-page memo provides an overview of Trump's physical examination and diagnostic testing, in which Barbabella concludes that the leader is "fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State."

"Preventative counseling was provided, including guidance on diet, recommendation to take a low-dose aspirin, increased physical activity, and continued weight loss," it said.

According to the memo, Trump -- who stands at six foot three inches (191 cm) tall -- weighs 238 pounds (108 kilograms), 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms) higher than his last full annual medical in April last year.

Trump's cardiac age is estimated to be "approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age."

Trump scored "30 out of 30" in the cognitive assessment.

The president has spoken dozens of times about "acing" a cognitive test that he claims his predecessors have not taken.

- 'Frequent handshaking' -

Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, is on three medications, two of which are designated for cholesterol control and the third being aspirin for "cardiac prevention."

Since returning to office, the Republican has often appeared with bruising on his right hand, usually covered with make-up.

"Examination of the dorsal hands revealed ecchymosis (bruising), consistent with minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking in the setting of aspirin use for cardiovascular prevention," the memo said regarding Trump's bruised hands.

During a number of White House events, the president has also been seen apparently closing his eyes for several seconds, although he has repeatedly denied dozing off.

Last summer, the White House disclosed that he had been evaluated for swelling in his legs and diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency -- a common condition in which faulty vein valves allow blood to pool, causing swelling, cramping and skin changes.

The revelation came after Trump was seen with swollen ankles on a number of occasions.

The memo also noted "scarring of the right ear consistent with prior gunshot injury."

Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing a rally goer and lightly wounding the president in the ear.

- 'Perfect' health -

Trump, for his part, said Tuesday's medical went "PERFECTLY" in a post on his Truth Social platform shortly after the appointment.

The White House later posted a picture of him on social media with the caption: "PERFECT BILL OF HEALTH!"

Following the president's check-up, US media reported that the White House had broken with precedent by not releasing the report, before it did so three days later.

The White House normally releases a summary of presidential physicals within hours or days, but the extent of the detail it gives is entirely at its own discretion.

Trump has long been accused of a lack of transparency about his health and the chronology of his various check-ups during his second term has only added to the confusion.

He referred to Tuesday's appointment as a "six-month physical," despite the White House billing it as an annual dental and medical examination in an announcement earlier this month.

Tuesday's medical examination was Trump's third since returning to office last year.

Trump's last scheduled annual check-up was in April last year. But it was followed by an unannounced hospital visit that October, which the White House then also described as an annual physical.



UK Warns against Israel Removing it from Gaza Ceasefire Center

Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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UK Warns against Israel Removing it from Gaza Ceasefire Center

Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians walk past a food-aid warehouse damaged in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby house in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The United Kingdom warned against any attempt by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center on Friday, after reports that Israel was considering expelling UK officials.

The UK government said on Thursday that it remains committed to implementing the 20-point Gaza peace plan, and any move to remove its officials would “undermine shared efforts.”

The comments came in response to reports that Israel is considering expelling officials from Britain and other European nations from the monitoring center. The UK remains committed to “playing our part in improving the situation on the ground,” the British government told The Associated Press.
Also, the Dutch Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Israel was removing two Dutch diplomats from the ceasefire center. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the decision was in response to a Dutch ban on the trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other “ anti-Israel measures.”

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Death Toll Rises in Nepal-China Border Disaster as a Lake Poses New Flood Threat

A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Death Toll Rises in Nepal-China Border Disaster as a Lake Poses New Flood Threat

A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)
A general view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)

Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety Friday as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing.

Nepal's disaster management authority said the death toll there rose to 538, and that more than 3,700 people have been rescued. Nepali police later put the number of deaths higher at 547.

Meanwhile there was little information on survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to five Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders' efforts to direct the relief response.

China's state media previously said 558 people were missing. Across the border, Nepal’s disaster management authority said Friday that 977 people were still unaccounted for. Hundreds of them were foreigners in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.

Authorities warn of further flooding from a new lake Nepali police issued a fresh alert Friday after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side has burst. Security personnel and rescue and relief workers were told to stay on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary.

It is unclear if the dam bursting is related to flooding concerns over a barrier lake that formed after the initial flash floods, high up in the Chinese side of the Himalayan mountains. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the lake was at an elevation of 2,950 meters (9,680 feet.)

Nepali and Chinese authorities earlier warned of further flooding from the barrier lake, which was already overflowing. They urged people in potentially affected areas to move to safer ground.

Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told The Associated Press that the rescue operation was continuing but with high alert. “It hasn’t stopped," he said.

Although the new lake is located more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal, rescue workers heading to the disaster zone were ordered to stop temporarily Friday morning owing to concern the lake would overflow.

Stranded supply trucks wait at the Kalanki checkpoint for road clearance, following deadly flash floods and a mudslide in Nepal, in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Some 680 rescuers eventually reached the hardest-hit area at Gyirong by foot and via rafts after much effort. Some were dropped down from drones flown to the area, CCTV footage showed.

Thousands of people have been evacuated, others await rescue Nepali Army rescuers were working to help people trapped in a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa, part of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.

Video from the scene show rescuers helping the man, covered in dark brown mud, out of the tunnel by pulling and pushing. He was one of likely dozens trapped in the tunnel.

Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet told the AP the focus was on survivors.

“It is complicated to find the entry and exit points of the tunnel because everything has been covered by mud,” Basnet said. “Our first priority is rescuing the stranded people.”

Nepal’s disaster management authority said 3,253 people had been airlifted by helicopter from the disaster area. Survivors, including injured people, were taken to Kathmandu and other locations.

Some felt the ground shake, then saw a ‘black storm’

Scientists who’ve studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall was so extreme that it reached a magnitude 5.2 seismic measurement.

The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.

Customs officer Karbir Gaire was among some of the survivors in Timure, the closest Nepalese village to the border with China, where some 1,500 people had lived.

Gaire reached his office around 8 a.m. Wednesday and was working on his computer when he first felt the ground shake.

“Right after the shake, I noticed a black storm coming towards us," he recalled from Kathmandu, where he is back with family. "We all immediately started running out, and within a few seconds, we were climbing uphill on the opposite side of our office building. I think those 10 or so seconds saved some of us.”

Gaire doesn’t remember exactly how many people were in the office when the disaster struck, but 15 colleagues have gone missing. “It was like a Hollywood movie scene. I don’t call it a flood, it was a tsunami.”

Volunteers use bulldozers to clear mud and debris along a road after flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 27, 2026. (AFP)

Families around the world hope for news of loved ones

Nepal’s tourism board has said that among the missing are more than 500 foreigners.

About 90 Americans were unaccounted for. US President Donald Trump said the flooding was terrible to see, and he told reporters in the Oval Office he offered to provide Nepalese leaders “anything they want.”

Rajan Tamang, a restaurant owner in New York City, said he learned from family in Kathmandu that his mother and sister were among those who died, while many other relatives and friends remained missing.

“My family was just waking up, and they didn’t even get any information, and suddenly this flood came. Some of them are missing, some of them lost their life and only a few is alive,” he told the AP after a vigil in New York.

Some of the missing may have been on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.

Vishnuram Ramaswamy, who works at a private company in the southern Indian city of Puducherry, said that he last spoke to his mother and two sisters who were on that pilgrimage Wednesday morning. It was a highly anticipated trip, something his mother had always wanted to do, he said.

“My mother said they were on their way towards the border area and said they’ll reach their hotel and call us,” he said. While he's in touch with government officials, and the travel agency, there's been no news.

“This was the last we spoke to them. They have been unreachable since.”


Iran Presses Other Countries to Refrain from Implementing US Sanctions

 A pro-government demonstrator waves an Iranian flag during a gathering in a square in Tehran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
A pro-government demonstrator waves an Iranian flag during a gathering in a square in Tehran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Presses Other Countries to Refrain from Implementing US Sanctions

 A pro-government demonstrator waves an Iranian flag during a gathering in a square in Tehran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
A pro-government demonstrator waves an Iranian flag during a gathering in a square in Tehran, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said all countries were obliged to refrain from implementing US sanctions against Tehran, adding that participation in them amounted to complicity in imposing ‌one state’s ‌unlawful will ‌on independent ⁠states.

In a statement ⁠published on its X account on Friday, the ministry described new US economic measures ⁠as illegal and reprehensible "state ‌terrorism" ‌and a crime ‌against humanity, saying they ‌put the health and livelihoods of millions of civilians at serious ‌risk.

It called on the international community ⁠to ⁠uphold the rule of law and said Tehran would use all its capabilities to defend itself against what it called a combined US-Israeli military and economic assault.