US10 min(s) read
Published 10:24 09 Jul 2026 GMT
Donald Trump drinks up to 12 Diet Cokes a day, exercises for what he estimates is 'about one minute a day, max', and has a McDonald's order that contains 2,430 calories and 111 grams of fat.
His own Health Secretary has said he does not understand how the President is still alive.
And yet his White House physician has declared him in 'excellent health', 'fully fit' to serve as Commander-in-Chief, and possessing 'excellent' cognitive and physical performance.
He is the oldest person ever to hold the office, having recently turned 80, and shows no signs of stepping aside.
So how healthy is Donald Trump, really?
The short answer is: McDonald's, candy, and Diet Coke - and a lot of all three.
Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski revealed in 2017 that the President's standard McDonald's order was two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted.
According to the McDonald's nutrition calculator, that single meal comes in at around 2,400 calories - above the entire daily recommended intake for an adult male.
Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters recalled being stunned by the quantity of food Trump consumed on the 2024 campaign trail.
"[He had] hot fries waiting for him from McDonald's. Then he had a Filet-O-Fish, a Quarter Pounder and a Big Mac."
Even with personal chefs aboard Air Force One, Trump's staff have shared photos of in-flight meals that tell their own story - branded burgers paired with onion rings, ketchup, honey mustard, and a chocolate-caramel brownie.
One such photo was posted on the day Trump flew to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis.
Trump has also been a vocal critic of McDonald's menu decisions in the past, once telling franchise owners their fries were 'not as good' as they used to be.
According to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the President's own Health and Human Services Secretary, it comes down to paranoia about food poisoning.
"When he's on the road, he eats like fast food because he trusts it," Kennedy told Joe Rogan's podcast in February 2026.
"He doesn't want to eat in some local place where he gets food poisoning or something.
"But when he's at home, at the White House, or Mar-a-Lago, it is all locally sourced, incredible food."
The logic, such as it is, is that large chain restaurants offer predictable food safety standards.
Trump eats from corporations he trusts rather than risk an unfamiliar kitchen.
UFC president Dana White, a close friend, told Kennedy he had known Trump for 20 years and had 'never seen him drink water'.
Kennedy's own summary of the situation was blunt.
"He eats really bad food, which is McDonald's, and candy, and Diet Coke," he said.
"He drinks the Diet Coke at all times. He has the constitution of a deity. I don't know how he's alive, but he is."
Yes. Trump has a button installed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office that summons a Diet Coke when pressed.
It has been there since his first term and remains in place during his second.
Staff have estimated that he drinks up to 12 cans a day.
The button is essentially a call button, and when he presses it, and a butler brings a Diet Coke on a silver tray.
It is the one item that is always within arm's reach.
Not really. And he has been remarkably upfront about it.
In a New Year's Day interview with The Wall Street Journal at the start of 2026, Trump was asked about his exercise habits.
"I just don't like it," he said.
In May 2026, while signing a proclamation celebrating National Physical Fitness and Sports Month surrounded by children and professional athletes, he said: "I work out so much. Like about one minute a day, max, if I'm lucky."
His only regular physical activity is golf. Kennedy has defended this, saying: "This guy walks nine miles a day on a golf course every weekend."
Trump was quick to clarify: "When I'm not using a cart."
The Mayo Clinic recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week for an adult.
Trump's self-reported 'one minute a day' - even generously interpreted - falls significantly short of that.
It is a far cry from the routines followed by other public figures of similar prominence, albeit within the world of sport.
Erling Haaland, for instance, consumes 6,000 calories a day but fuels it with beef heart, liver, and raw milk, trains daily with hill sprints and HIIT sessions, and sleeps 10 hours a night with tape over his mouth.
Trump's caloric intake may not be far off Haaland's. The similarity ends there.
Trump's most recent physical took place at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in late May 2026. The three-page report, authored by White House physician Dr Sean Barbabella, was released late on a Friday evening, a time traditionally used by governments to bury unfavorable news.
The headline finding was that Trump weighed 238 pounds, up 14 pounds from his April 2025 exam.
At 6ft 3in, that gives him a BMI of approximately 29.7 - just below the threshold for clinical obesity.
However, the report also noted that Trump had previously lost 20 pounds between his first and second terms, dropping from 244 pounds to 224 pounds.
The recent gain has reversed much of that progress.
Barbabella recommended Trump increase his physical activity, continue to lose weight, take a low-dose aspirin daily, and follow dietary guidance.
He concluded that Trump's 'cognitive and physical performance are excellent' and that he is 'fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief'.
The exam involved a CT scan and other cardiac imaging, cancer screenings, and assessments by 22 medical specialists.
No abnormalities requiring treatment were disclosed.
In October 2025, following photographs showing visible swelling around Trump's ankles and bruising on his right hand, Dr Barbabella disclosed that the President had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which is a condition affecting blood flow in the legs that is common in people over 70.
The bruising on his hand was attributed to 'minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and aspirin use'.
The White House has repeatedly addressed the visible bandages and discolouration, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Trump is 'literally constantly shaking hands'.
However, the issue has persisted, with fresh concerns raised when significant bruising was visible on his left hand during King Charles's state visit to Washington in April.
The standard treatment for venous insufficiency includes compression stockings and increased physical activity, the latter being precisely what Trump has said he dislikes.
Separately, doctors have identified what is known as 'Frank's Sign', which is a visible crease on Trump's earlobe that has been associated in medical literature with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.
The sign is not diagnostic on its own, but it has drawn attention given Trump's age, weight, diet, and family history of heart disease.
Trump also takes finasteride for hair loss and rosuvastatin for cholesterol management.
His resting heart rate and blood pressure have been reported as within normal ranges.
Yes, and increasingly so.
In January 2026, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation detailing how Trump had been routinely falling asleep during meetings and was requesting 'fewer, more important meetings' as his schedule lightened.
Footage of Trump struggling on stairs alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping during the state visit to Beijing drew attention in June, coming just a week after he was labelled 'unfit to serve' following a video that appeared to show him asleep during an Oval Office health briefing.
In early June, he was not seen in public for a full week, prompting further speculation, although the White House said this was simply his schedule.
His late-night Truth Social posting has also raised questions.
In one recent spree documented by The Daily Beast, Trump shared 48 posts in 36 minutes before resuming again at 6:00am.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and others have used the term 'sundowning' - a medical phenomenon associated with dementia - to describe the pattern, though Trump has not been diagnosed with any cognitive condition and the White House has firmly rejected the characterisation.
Photographs have repeatedly shown bruises on Trump's hands, and he has been seen with swollen feet, ankles, and calves at public events.
He often appears wearing makeup to cover the bruising. The accumulation of visible health indicators has led to public discussion about presidential succession procedures, although Trump himself has dismissed all such talk.
By May 2026, multiple polls showed a majority of Americans did not believe Trump was mentally fit to serve effectively.
An Axios-Ipsos poll found more than 70% of Americans believed most politicians are not honest about their health, and nearly three-quarters supported a legal requirement for sitting presidents to release their medical records.
Trump has pushed back consistently.
"I feel great," he said in May.
"Probably better than I've ever felt."
No. Trump is a lifelong teetotaller.
He has said on multiple occasions that he has never had a drink of alcohol, crediting his older brother Fred Trump Jr., who struggled with alcoholism and died in 1981 at the age of 43, as the reason.
"He would tell me, 'Don't drink, don't smoke,'" Trump has said of his brother.
"And to this day, I've never had a cigarette. I've never had a drink of alcohol."
It is one of the few areas of personal discipline that has remained genuinely consistent throughout his life.
It depends on who you ask.
His doctor says he is in 'excellent health' and 'fully fit' to serve.
His Health Secretary says he has 'the constitution of a deity' but does not understand how he is alive.
He has gained 14 pounds in a year, exercises for approximately one minute a day by his own admission, drinks up to 12 Diet Cokes daily, and eats McDonald's meals that exceed a full day's calories in a single sitting.
He is the oldest sitting president in American history, turned 80 on June 14, and survived an assassination attempt in 2024.
He is running the country while managing a series of public controversies, and flying across the world on a $400 million jet with a bedroom, a spiral staircase, and - presumably - a very well-stocked fridge full of Diet Coke.
RFK Jr. probably put it best: "If you travel with him, you get this idea he is pumping himself full of poison all day long and you don't know how he's walking around, much less being the most energetic person any of us have ever met."
Make of that what you will.
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