Donald Trump’s massive McDonald’s meal has once again captured public attention following his recent interview where he boasted about his strong health, dismissing any signs of aging.
At 79, Trump stands as the oldest individual to step into the presidency, often emphasizing his vitality as a key component of his political persona.
However, his initial year in office has been overshadowed by health-related speculation, with incidents of noticeable bruising on his hand and moments of apparent drowsiness during meetings.
In a Thursday interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump attributed the bruises to aspirin use and insisted he was merely resting his eyes momentarily.
The report also revisited Trump’s famously cholesterol-heavy McDonald’s order, originally detailed by former Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters.
This Presidential fast-food indulgence includes a spread of French fries, a Quarter Pounder, a Big Mac, and a Filet-O-Fish.
The order totals 1,960 calories, nearly an entire day’s recommended intake, and around 225 mg of cholesterol, roughly three-quarters of the daily guideline.
Add a chocolate milkshake, as Trump often does, and the calorie count balloons to more than 2,700 well beyond a full day’s recommended allowance.
Trump takes rosuvastatin (a statin), as well as ezetimibe, to help control his cholesterol, according to his physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella.
Donald Trump works behind the counter during a visit to McDonald’s restaurant on October 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania
Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Don Jr, RFK share a McDonald’s meal aboard Trump’s private plane in November 2024
The President’s love of McDonald’s is well documented, and he even staged a campaign stop behind the fry station during the 2024 race.
The fresh reporting of his fast-food order quickly went viral on X, including some mean-spirited comments about his health.
‘Holy f***! New reporting suggests Trump can demolish McDonald’s fries, a Quarter Pounder, a Big Mac, and a Filet-O-Fish in one sitting. Combine that with 12 Diet Cokes a day and zero exercise… someone please explain how this cholesterol-soaked fleshsack is still alive,’ wrote an account called Canada Hates Trump.
Another X user wrote: ‘I’ve never been so disappointed in cholesterol.’
Another account of Trump’s McDonald’s order can be found in Let Trump Be Trump, a 2017 book by two of the President’s aides, David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski.
They recalled the Commander-in-Chief ordering ‘two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted.’
‘On Trump Force One, there were four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke,’ they added.
In the interview defending his health, Trump also changed his previous statement about receiving an MRI scan in October, saying it was instead a quicker CT scan.
‘My health is perfect,’ Trump told the Journal, expressing frustration with scrutiny of his well-being.
His right hand shows persistent bruising, often covered with thick makeup and at times a bandage, and his ankles have appeared swollen.
On occasion, Trump has clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, including during a televised Oval Office meeting with health representatives in November, a politically sensitive issue as he constantly frames his predecessor Joe Biden as ‘sleepy.’
Biden left office a year ago at 82, making him the oldest president in history, a record Trump is set to surpass during his current term.
Biden’s presidency was plagued by more obvious signs of his ageing, including frequent falls and misspeaking during public addresses.
Trump explained the bruising on his hand as the result of aspirin that he takes daily to thin his blood.
Trump pushed back against any idea that he falls asleep in public. Instances where he appears to be dozing off are just moments of relaxation, he said. ‘I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,’ he said. ‘Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink’
‘I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,’ he told the Journal.
He said he applies makeup or bandages when his hand is ‘whacked.’
One cut, he said, was caused when his attorney general Pam Bondi hit the back of his hand with her ring while giving him a high-five.
Explanations of his health issues have been inconsistent.
Trump himself told reporters that he underwent an MRI scan in October, but said at the time he had ‘no idea what they analyzed.’
‘Whatever they analyzed, they analyzed it well, and they said that I had as good a result as they’ve ever seen,’ he said initially.
To the Journal, Trump said it was not an MRI, ‘it was less than that. It was a scan.’
Trump’s doctor, Barbabella, confirmed to the newspaper that a CT scan, a procedure that takes far less time than an MRI, was done ‘to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues.’
Trump pushed back against any idea that he falls asleep in public.
‘I’ve never been a big sleeper,’ Trump said.
Instances where he appears to be dozing off are just moments of relaxation, he said.
‘I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,’ he said. ‘Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.’
