WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to Walter Reed Medical Center Friday morning for a routine physical exam, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a tweet.
The exam comes on the eve of Biden’s birthday Saturday when he’ll turn 79 years old.
The last time a full medical assessment of Biden was publicly released was in 2019 by his campaign when he was running for the Democratic nomination. At the time, Biden was described by Dr. Kevin O’Connor of The George Washington University as a “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”
Psaki had been frequently asked when Biden — the oldest president to assume office and oldest sitting president — would undergo a physical.
“He will be doing his physical soon, as I’ve noted before,” she said last week. “As soon as he does that, we will provide that information transparently to all of you. He is regularly tested under the guidance of his doctor. We do provide that information regularly to all of you. I’m happy to check and see when the last time he was tested and provide that to you after the briefing as you.”
In 2019, Biden had been taking medication for acid reflux, cholesterol and seasonal allergies as well as blood thinners.
Biden survived two brain aneurysms in the late 1980s and doctors discovered that one of them didn’t rupture. He also suffered from deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism. O’Connor said in 2019 that there were no serious threats to Biden’s health and his past medical conditions were under control.
Donald Trump’s first physical as president didn’t come until a year into his presidency when then-White House physician Ronny Jackson said Trump’s overall health was “excellent” and that he had “a lot of energy and a lot of stamina.”