⬅ Donald Trump: General Approach

Subject Matter

In reviewing the medical history of Donald Trump, much of the scrutiny, alas, goes to trivial matters untied to the nation's welfare. Why, then, does Dr. Zebra even address such matters?

As always, Dr. Zebra approaches his subject from the vantage of a physician assessing any and all aspects of his patient's life that could fall under medical and physiological provenance. So, while he does not shirk from covering the many matters of lesser importance (sigh), Dr. Zebra would prefer your attention be directed to the more consequential topics of Trump's mental health, sleep health, and vascular health.

Reference Standards

Readers may notice that Trump's medical history has more references than most others (but not vs. Abraham Lincoln, for whom Dr. Zebra has compiled an 820-page book).

The main reason for this is simple: Trump's litany of untruths extends also to matters of health and medicine. Several examples are notable:

1. Documentary evidence shows he is (at best) not consistent about the ultra-trivial matter of his height.
2. Trump himself wrote the inanity-filled initial release of medical information in 2015 that was purported to come from his physician. MORE
3. While being interviewed about his just-disclosed health information on Fox News during the 2016 campaign MORE, Trump made this particularly worrisome statement regarding transparency:

   I did all the tests. I did every test. I did it last week and the samples all came back, and I guess I wouldn't be talking to you right now if they were bad. If they were bad, I would say let's sort of skip this, right?

   (In a related point, Dr. Zebra does not believe that he "did all the tests.")
4. Trump's medical disclosures during the 2016 campaign did not include all the medications he was taking. MORE
5. The official explanations for Trump's abrupt visit to Walter Reed Hospital in November 2019 are so obviously incomplete as to be sure evidence of information hiding.

Conclusion

How, then, should one approach information provided by President Trump and his associates? When taking an academic approach, Dr. Zebra follows these heuristics:

1. If any possible benefit could accrue to Trump from some particular statement, any truth in the statement is coincidental.
2. Unlike most human communication, consistency and repetition do not increase the probability of a statement's truth. MORE