Trump’s doctor explains red marks on his neck
President Trump’s physician has said he is using a common cream as a “preventative skin treatment” after images emerged of red marks on his neck.
Trump, the oldest man to become president, has repeatedly dismissed questions about his health before his 80th birthday in June.
On Monday, he attended a medal of honour event in the White House with what appeared to be a rash on his neck.
• Sign up for The Times’s weekly US newsletter
In a statement to The Times, Dr Sean Barbabella, Trump’s physician, said Trump was using a “very common cream on the right side of his neck, which is a preventative skin treatment, prescribed by the White House doctor”.
Barbabella did not say what the skin condition was or name the cream being used to treat it. “The president is using this treatment for one week, and the redness is expected to last for a few weeks,” he added.
KYLE MAZZA/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Trump has maintained that he is in “perfect” health and he feels “the way I did 40 years ago”. However, he has faced scrutiny since returning to the White House after apparent episodes of fatigue, visible bruising on his hands and swelling in his legs.
He has denied falling asleep during events, blaming boredom for one incident in December when he repeatedly shut his eyes during a lengthy cabinet meeting.
“Some people said, he closed his eyes,” Trump said at the subsequent cabinet gathering. “Look, it got pretty boring. I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell outta here.”
He has attributed the bruising on his hands to taking a higher than recommended dose of aspirin, which he does because he wants “real thin blood”. He told the Wall Street Journal this month: “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart.”
After bruising appeared on his hand in Switzerland last month, he said he had “clipped” it on the table and that his high dose made him more prone to the visible marks. “I would say, take aspirin if you like your heart, but don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising,” Trump said on Air Force One.
No Byline Policy
Editorial Guidelines
Corrections Policy
Source