US President Donald Trump said he avoids exercise because he finds it “boring” apart from playing golf, and addressed questions about his health and medical decisions in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” Trump told the paper, rejecting activities like walking on a treadmill or running. “Walking on a treadmill or running on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people, that’s not for me.”
Golf through exercise in the gym
Trump, who turned 80 in June, said golf remains his primary form of physical activity. The president regularly plays the courses he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia, often on weekends and holidays.
“My ‘exercise’ is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf,” Trump tweeted in 2020, a remark he repeated in the interview, according to the newspaper.
Health concerns and genetics
Trump sought to downplay concerns about his age and fitness, telling the newspaper that he benefits from “very good genetics” that protect him from common age-related health problems.
However, he admitted that he sometimes went against medical advice.
Compression socks and blood flow problem
Trump told the Journal that he had stopped wearing compression socks prescribed to treat chronic venous insufficiency, a circulatory condition that caused swelling in his feet and ankles last year.
“I didn’t like them,” he said, despite doctors warning that compression socks can help prevent serious complications such as blood clots.
Instead, Trump said he decided to walk more and cut down on long periods of sitting at the Resolute Desk so his leg muscles could help pump blood back to his heart.
Clarification of the scan: CT, not MRI
In a clarification likely to attract attention, Trump and his physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, told the WSJ that the president underwent a less intense CT scan during an October physical — not an MRI — to assess his cardiovascular health.
Trump and his aides previously referred to the scan as an MRI, fueling months of speculation.
Aspirin regimen and superstition
Dr. Barbabella told the Journal that Trump takes 325 milligrams a day of heart-healthy aspirin, a higher dose than the commonly recommended 81 milligrams.
Trump said the choice was driven in part by personal conviction.
“I’m a bit superstitious,” he told the paper.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning the blood, and I don’t want thick blood running through my heart. I want nice, thin blood running through my heart. Does that make sense?” Trump said, according to the Journal.
Read also | Jan. 6 riots ‘won’t happen’ without Trump, says Jack Smith
