Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, had people facepalming after he told a reporter that Trump keeps going to see doctors because he "likes the results."
Presidents typically undergo and publicly release the results of a single annual medical examination. Since returning to office in January 2025, however, Trump has undergone four such evaluations, including a physical at the end of May.
In a report released afterward, White House physician Sean Barbabella attributed Trump's health in part to a “demanding daily schedule,” which include “high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity."
Critics, however, have questioned that assessment, arguing it is difficult to reconcile with Trump's well-known dietary preferences and longstanding skepticism toward exercise. They have also accused the White House of failing to fully disclose the extent of the president's health issues and the circumstances surrounding his recent hospital visits.
Oz said he believed the examinations were routine and had discussed the matter with Trump. Oz also pointed to Trump's appearance on his television program a decade ago, where he shared what Oz described as “spectacular” health records, suggesting that Trump's health remains strong despite approaching his 80th birthday.
Then a reporter pressed further:
“If the president’s in such perfect health, why does he keep going back in for checkups?”
Oz replied:
"I think he likes the results. He does really well, uh—he aces the test every single day. And I do actually believe that he’s curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction.”
"He's a very meticulous person in so many ways that are often underappreciated. For him to know all the numbers and keep on top of them, it’s the same reason he calls people at odd hours—because something’s on his mind and he wants to deal with it.”
You can hear what Oz said in the video below.
Oz was referencing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), which Trump has referred to as an "intelligence test."
While Trump has bragged about acing an exam used to assess cognitive impairment, he continues not to understand that the need for continual cognitive exams is not a good thing.
MoCA was designed to assess different cognitive domains, including attention and concentration, executive functions, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation.
The assessment's questions are simple and ask test subjects to demonstrate if they can remember five words. Critics have stressed that it is unimpressive that Trump can remember five words—namely “person, woman, man, camera, TV”—as Trump demonstrated at one point on live television.
Just last week, Trump was criticized for sharing an image on Truth Social that displays the tally of cognitive tests that have been "aced" between him and former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. It is not a good thing that he's "aced" several—and this is despite the fact he has repeatedly made statements about presidential candidates needing cognitive exams.
Oz's explanation made no sense—people were quick to call out his obvious lie.
Considering Oz revealed just a couple of months ago that Trump loves drinking diet soda because he believes it kills cancer cells, we doubt he believes his own explanation for why Trump goes for medical checkups so often.
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