Dr. Ronny Jackson said at a White House briefing on January 16: “I have no concerns about his cognitive ability or neurological functions.”
Last week, Donald Trump, 71, had a three-hour examination in his first medical check-up since becoming president.
The medical check-up comes after the release of a controversial book fuelled speculation about the president’s mental health.
Dr Jackson said: “All data indicates the president is healthy and will remain so for the duration of his presidency.”
“He continues to enjoy the significant long-term cardiac and overall health benefits that come from a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol,” the physician added.
When asked by a reporter how a man who consumes fried chicken and Diet Coke and does not exercise could be in good shape, Dr. Ronny Jackson replied: “It’s called genetics… He has incredible genes.”
However, he added that President Trump could benefit from a lower-fat diet and more exercise.
On January 12, the president was examined by military doctors at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in tests that were said to have gone “exceptionally well”.
Among them was Dr. Ronny Jackson, whose official title is Physician to the President.
A rear admiral in the US Navy, Dr. Jackson tended to Donald Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.
To check for possible cognitive dysfunction, the US Department of Veterans Affairs uses the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) neuropsychological test. This test assesses an individual’s attention and concentration, memory, language, conceptual thinking, calculations and orientation.
Questions have been raised about the president’s cognitive ability, particularly with the publication of Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
Some neurological experts had compared earlier clips of President Trump speaking with more recent instances in which he had used fewer words and appeared to ramble.
Michael Wolff has alleged the president is intellectually incapable of carrying out his role and questioned his mental fitness. He claimed all of the president’s White House aides saw him as a “child” who needed “immediate gratification”.
In December 2015, Donald Trump’s own long-time doctor, Harold Bornstein, declared in a pre-election assessment that his client would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”.
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