President Donald Trump has claimed that his former White House doctor told him he could live to 200 years old if he gave up junk food. The 79-year-old made the remarks during a ceremony honouring the US Naval Academy football team on Friday.
Trump recalled that his former physician, Ronny Jackson – now a Republican congressman from Texas – had rated him as 'by far' the healthiest of the last three US presidents. 'He said, "President Donald J Trump by far. If he didn't eat junk food, he'd live to 200 years old,"' Trump said, adding that he 'loves' Jackson.
The comments come amid ongoing scrutiny of Trump's health, given his age and well-documented fondness for fast food, particularly McDonald's. His most recent publicly disclosed weight was 225 pounds, and his primary exercise is golf. Despite this, Trump has released letters from doctors attesting to his fitness.
Jackson served as White House physician under both Barack Obama and Trump. He was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2018 but withdrew after allegations of misconduct, including drinking on the job and overprescribing opioids – claims he denied as 'baseless'.
