Cardiologist busts White House’s 'almost laughable' explanation for Trump’s imaging

Cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner on CNN on December 1, 2025

Dr. Jonathan Reiner – who was former Vice President Dick Cheney's cardiologist for more than 30 years – isn't buying the White House's explanation for President Donald Trump's advanced imaging done in October.

During a Monday segment on CNN, hosts Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar played a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who read a statement from White House physician Sean P. Barbarella explaining that the imaging was "preventive." The administration maintained that the imaging showed that Trump was in "excellent health" and that "all major organs appear healthy and well-perfused."

After hearing Leavitt's statement from the lectern. Dr. Reiner countered that it was not "standard" for an 80 year-old president to undergo advanced imaging, and that "there really is no preventative cardiac MRI." He also pointed out that Trump already had his annual physical in the spring, meaning that the fall MRI was unrelated.

"The whole note has kind of a weird defensive, evasive tone to it," Reiner said. "First of all, this is not part of the president's comprehensive physical examination. He had that in April, and then he underwent some more testing in July."

"If you look at his first administration, the president — like most presidents — only underwent one comprehensive physical exam every year. So this comes completely off cycle," he continued. "Second, it's filled with euphemisms. Again, Dr. Barbarella, the president's physician, states that he underwent advanced imaging. Well, what specific advanced imaging did the president have? Was it an MRI, as the president said? Was it a C.T.? [scan] Did he have both? Why not just spell it out?"

When reading Barbarella's summary of Trump's imaging, the press secretary stated that Trump had both cardiovascular imaging along with a scan of his abdomen. This also struck Dr. Reiner as unusual, as he noted such scans are often "performed in response to some clinical concern." He added that such a scan was "fine" for someone advanced in age, the White House was still being cagey in the way it described the imaging.

"Things happen to people as we all get older. And president is almost almost 80," he said. "So instead of this kind of evasive, almost laughable kind of note, just spell out what happened. I hope the imaging is is normal and great. That would be excellent news. But this kind of piece-by-piece, drip-by-drip release of information is disconcerting."