Dozens of experts urge doctor to examine Trump’s neurological health during physical
A group of more than 70 psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals sent a letter to President Donald Trump’s physician on Thursday, imploring him to include an evaluation of the president’s neurological health in a physical examination scheduled for Friday.
The White House has said tests of mental fitness will not be part of the president’s physical. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday that the physician, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, would issue a statement following the exam and answer questions from the media next week.
A president’s cognitive functions are not typically tested during a physical, though such tests are advised for people Trump’s age — 71 — during annual checkups.
The letter comes amid questions about the president’s mental state following the recent publication of Michael Wolff’s tell-all book, which describes Trump’s erratic behavior and quotes top officials questioning his competence on the record.
Steven Buser, a psychiatrist and a signatory on the letter, formerly served in the Air Force, where he conducted psychiatric exams on airmen, including those tasked with duties involving the nuclear arsenal. That background has fueled his concern, he said.
“My biggest concern has really been the whole nuclear threat,” said Buser, who co-edited the book, “A Clear and Present Danger: Narcissism in the Era of Donald Trump.”