Donald Trump’s personal physician must stay no more than three minutes away from the president at all times, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.
While round-the-clock medical proximity is standard protocol for the commander-in-chief — former White House physician Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman previously noted keeping a doctor and critical care nurse within two minutes of past presidents — the rule highlights the tight boundaries surrounding the oldest elected president in U.S. history.
The arrangement, overseen by Navy Captain Dr. Sean Barbabella, comes as Trump receives glowing medical reports and routinely ignores his doctors’ advice, all while under constant emergency-ready care.
Barbabella, a 56-year-old military physician who served in Afghanistan prior to his White House post, is responsible for conducting the 80-year-old president’s health evaluations and drafting his public reports.
A person familiar with Barbabella’s White House routine told The Wall Street Journal that aides typically left the room during consultations between the doctor and Trump, characterizing the physician’s bedside manner as “low-key and direct.”
Although the physical proximity is routine, Barbabella’s public summaries of the president’s health have drawn attention for their flattering details. In a May 2026 report, Barbabella wrote that “AI-enhanced electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis estimated his cardiac age, an established measure of cardiovascular vitality, to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.”
Despite Barbabella advising weight loss, diet modifications, increased exercise, and a lower aspirin intake, the doctor offered an unqualified endorsement of the president’s physical state.
“President Trump remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function,” Barbabella reported. “His demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being. Cognitive and physical performance are excellent.
“He is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”
The glowing report continues a long tradition of flattering health evaluations for Trump. In 2015, Dr. Harold Bornstein, who served as Trump’s personal doctor from 1980 to 2018, issued a statement declaring that Trump’s “physical strength and stamina are extraordinary” and claiming he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
Bornstein later admitted to CNN in 2018: “He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter, I just made it up as I went along.” Bornstein died in 2021.
Questions also linger over how much medical counsel Trump actually accepts. Addressing a rally crowd in Ohio last week, Trump spoke openly about overriding his doctors’ recommendations regarding his high daily dose of aspirin, which Barbabella addressed in his recent report.
“I take an aspirin a day,” Trump told supporters. “I don’t know if it works, but psychologically I need it. They said, ‘Sir, you don’t need that!’
“I said, ‘Do me a favor, I’ve been doing okay for 35 years. Leave me alone.’”
