Politico | How ego led Donald Trump to hide a colonoscopy
- Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham resolves one of the weirdest unanswered questions of the Trump-era
- Trump’s trip to Walter Reed National Medical Centre in November 2019 was for a colonoscopy – but why was it kept secret?
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Meredith McGraw on politico.com on October 7, 2021.
It was one of the great mysteries of his time in office. Why, exactly, did President Donald Trump make an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed National Medical Centre one sunny Saturday afternoon in November 2019?
A wide range of conspiracy theories was birthed from that moment – It was a heart ailment! He had a stroke! An impeachment driven anxiety attack? – further fuelled by the fact that a White House famous for leaks steadfastly refused to explain it. Indeed, aides themselves didn’t know. And those who did were incredibly tight-lipped about it. Until now.
In her tell-all book, former White House press secretary and chief of staff to the first lady Stephanie Grisham strongly implies that Trump went to Walter Reed for a routine colonoscopy as part of his annual physical. She never explicitly says so. But multiple former officials confirmed that that was, in fact, the reason.
Grisham’s book states that Trump made the decision to keep his visit under wraps because, she suspects, he didn’t want to be the “butt of the joke” on late night television. The book also states her belief that he avoided anaesthesia for the painful and invasive procedure because he didn’t want Vice-President Mike Pence to take over temporarily as commander-in-chief and loathed showing any kind of weakness.
Former White House aides say they’re surprised the detail never got out while Trump was president. After all, just about everything else eventually made its way into TV chyrons and newspaper headlines.
