President Trump recently claimed during a Hanukkah reception at the White House that his former doctor told him he’s in much better shape than Barack Obama or Joe Biden ever were.
It happened on December 16, 2025, right after he spoke about the tragic mass shooting in Sydney’s Bondi Beach that took 15 lives a couple of days earlier. While introducing Rep. Ronny Jackson — the guy who was his White House physician — Trump shared this anecdote.
Apparently, Jackson, who also served under Obama and briefly under Bush, was asked point-blank who was the healthiest out of the three presidents: Obama, Biden, or Trump. And according to Trump, Jackson didn’t hesitate: “Trump was by far the healthiest.”
Trump, who’s now 79, joked that if Jackson hadn’t said that, he “would never have talked to him again.” He called Jackson a “great legend.”
For context, Jackson was the doctor during Trump’s first term and part of Obama’s second. He left to run for Congress in 2021 and has been a Republican rep from Texas since. Biden had a different physician, though.
No one’s heard back yet from Obama’s team or Jackson himself on this specific story.
Jackson has made similar comments before — back in August 2025, he told The Daily Beast that Trump is “the healthiest president this nation has ever seen.” Trump has referenced stuff like this at events too.
On the health front, Trump’s latest checks in October 2025 showed everything normal on his MRIs, according to his current doctor. He did get diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency earlier in the year, but overall, he’s the oldest person elected president and will soon be older in office than Biden was.
Jackson’s had his share of controversies over the years, including a Navy demotion in 2022 that got reversed just this past September.
Anyway, it’s classic Trump — throwing in a bit of bragging during a holiday event.