Trump dictated note saying his health was excellent, says doctor

WASHINGTON: Harold Bornstein, the long-haired doctor who caught global attention in 2016 with a glowing health assessment of the then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is now saying it was dictated by his long-time client himself.

“He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter,” Bornstein told CNN on Tuesday. “I just made it up as I went along.”

Here is what the report had said: “His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary. If elected, Mr Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

Bornstein also alleged that medical records about his patient were snatched by Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, and two other men in a “raid” on his office in 2017. The incident, he told NBC News, had left him feeling “raped, frightened and sad”.

The White House confirmed the records were carried away but denied it was a raid. “As is standard operating procedure for a new president, the White House medical unit took possession of the president’s medical records,” press secretary Sarah Sanders told a daily news briefing.

But there was no response to the dictation charge.

Trump has had some doctor problems lately. Admiral Ronny Jackson, the White House physician to the president whom Trump had nominated to head the sprawling department providing healthcare to military veterans, was forced to withdraw after questions were raised about his work ethics.