logo
'Benign' vein issue behind Trump's swollen legs: White House

'Benign' vein issue behind Trump's swollen legs: White House

News.com.au17-07-2025
US President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with a chronic but benign vein condition after seeking medical examination for swollen legs, the White House said Thursday.
The presidential physician found Trump, 79, has "chronic venous insufficiency" -- a condition where damaged leg veins fail to keep blood flowing properly -- Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, calling it a "benign and common condition."
Responding to speculation over recent photos showing bruising on Trump's hand, Leavitt said "this was consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen."
Trump became the oldest person in history to assume the presidency when he began his second term this January, replacing Democrat Joe Biden, who stepped down at 81.
The Republican frequently boasts of his energy levels and the administration recently even posted an image depicting him as Superman.
In April, Trump said after undergoing a routine medical check-up that he was in "very good shape."
Leavitt's revelations follow viral online discussions about the president's visibly swollen ankles and discolored right hand.
She said he had undergone "a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies. Bilateral lower extremity venous doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70."
"Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease," she said.
All Trump's test results "were within normal limits," she said and he had a "normal cardiac structure and function, no signs of heart failure, renal impairment or systemic illness."
The hand issue, she said, was linked to the aspirin he takes in a "standard" cardiovascular health program.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets
Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets

Sky News AU

time12 hours ago

  • Sky News AU

Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on states and cities to end 'endemic vagrancy' — and rehouse homeless people including drug addicts and those suffering from mental problems in 'treatment centers.' The order redirects federal funding to prioritize 'shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment.' On average, more than 274,000 people were sleeping on the streets each night last year under then-President Joe Biden, the order says. 'The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both,' the document says. 'The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.' Trump has for years complained about homeless encampments along major roads in Washington, DC, and proposed reopening insane asylums to house the nation's most dangerous street people. It was not immediately clear how much funding would be steered toward the new initiative, or whether there would be a parallel effort to reopen long-shuttered institutions as a public safety strategy. The order identifies 'assisted outpatient treatment' as an option in addition to 'institutional treatment.' States and municipalities that already crackdown on open illicit drug use and urban camping, loitering or squatting, and tracking sex offenders, will be prioritized for grants. 'President Trump is delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again and end homelessness across America,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 'By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need.' Tent cities that have particularly upset the president sprung up during his first term between the Kennedy Center and the White House, in an area his motorcade traverses on the way to and from his northern Virginia golf course. Another rat-infested encampment lasted for years in McPherson Square just north of the White House, spooking passersby who regularly spotted occupants staggering around, conversing with themselves and urinating on lamp posts. Trump griped that the grim scenes in DC were on display for visiting world leaders — and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration has since conducted whack-a-mole camp clearances in the capital's core. The Supreme Court ruled last year in a 6-3 decision that localities have a right to impose fines on homeless people who camp without permission on public property. Originally published as Donald Trump signs executive order forcing homeless off America's streets

The big biosecurity question at the centre of Australia's US beef move
The big biosecurity question at the centre of Australia's US beef move

SBS Australia

timea day ago

  • SBS Australia

The big biosecurity question at the centre of Australia's US beef move

The federal government has lifted a ban on beef imports from the United States, expanding access to products sourced from Canada and Mexico. It's a move some experts say risks Australia's biosecurity and may be politically motivated. Although the US has been able to send beef to Australia since 2019, any cattle raised in Canada or Mexico before being slaughtered and processed in the US was previously barred due to biosecurity concerns. Now, following a decade-long science-based review, that restriction is gone. But some question whether Australia's strict biosecurity laws are being used for political gain, with the government facing questions over whether the move was made to appease US President Donald Trump. Biosecurity concerns One key concern was that Mexico's livestock tracking system could inadvertently allow beef from disease-affected regions to enter Australia. But the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the new changes follow the introduction of more robust movement controls in the US in late 2024 and early 2025, allowing for better tracing of cattle through the supply chain. Professor Michael Ward, a veterinary public health expert at the University of Sydney, said the decision opens Australia up to more risk because disease traceability in North America is "not quite as strong" as in Europe. Australia allows imports of beef products from a limited number of European countries. "You can potentially have cattle coming from lower disease status areas caught up in what gets exported, and then trying to work out where it's come from, that becomes really difficult," he said. "You can't really [separate those markets] in the US because it's such a bigger market and it's integrated … If a cow is moved to the US and it's there for three months, is it then an American cow? "You're basically increasing the pool of potentially risky animals, and that then flows into the risk assessment." The main risks associated with beef imports are the introduction of diseases such as mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease. Both the US and Mexico are free from both diseases. Canada is free of foot and mouth disease, but has had some cases of mad cow disease in the past. Ward said it's not "reasonable to believe all three countries have the same risk". "They're different systems, different countries, different raising conditions, different administrations. As you increase the number of countries, you're going to increase the risk." A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said the review was the culmination of "a decade of science and risk-based import assessment and evaluation … to make sure Australia's robust biosecurity measures are upheld". They added that the government would "not compromise on our enviable biosecurity status or our food standards, ever". Is biosecurity being used as a bargaining tool? Some believe the change could help Australia negotiate a better trade deal with the US — particularly on tariffs. As part of his sweeping global tariffs, Trump introduced a baseline 10 per cent tariff on many Australian goods in April. "[Australians] ban American beef," Trump said at the time. "Yet, we imported [US]$3 billion ($4.5 billion) of Australian beef from them just last year alone … They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers." Nationals leader David Littleproud has accused the Albanese government of using the beef industry to appease Trump as it continues to pursue a broader tariff exemption. "It looks as though it's [biosecurity] been traded away to appease Donald Trump," Littleproud said on ABC's Radio National on Thursday. Coalition frontbencher James Paterson called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to "stand up ... and explain" to Australia's beef farmers that the government hasn't "watered down" biosecurity. Ward is also concerned the government is "playing off" biosecurity protections to secure a better deal. "It seems like a trade-driven decision," he said. He warned that the short-term economic gain from lifting tariffs could pale in comparison to the potential cost of a disease outbreak. "It's a huge concern — once you have introduced a disease — foot and mouth disease, for example — years and years and millions of dollars are spent trying to control that," he said. "That short-term gain — if it is tariff-driven — whether what the benefit of that is compared to a long-term disease scenario, it just doesn't add up. You really have to think about the long-term." Trade Minister Don Farrell has denied any link between the decision and pressure from the US. "There's nothing suspicious about this," he told Sky News. "If we want to export our beef overseas, then we have to accept that other countries will want to import their beef into Australia." "We're not going to allow our biosecurity rules to be impacted by the trade issues." How has the industry responded? Some industry groups say they support science-based decision-making but expressed frustration over the lack of transparency. "Science must remain the cornerstone of technical market access decisions," Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Tim Ryan said in a statement. "This progress on the US's access request demonstrates Australia's consistency in applying internationally recognised standards, which is vital to the long-term sustainability of our sector." The National Farmers Federation (NFF) said the decision needed to come "separate from any tariff negotiations". "The NFF's been clear that the revised request from the US needed to undergo the standard, science-based assessment to protect our biosecurity, and should be dealt with separate from any tariff negotiations," the organisation said in a statement. Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans said the announcement came without proper consultation. "There's going to be a lot of people today who feel blindsided by this, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to feel really frustrated and threatened by this," he told ABC radio. 'This science-based process has been, and always should be, conducted completely independently of any international trade negotiations," he added. Ward said that without seeing the final risk assessment, it's hard to judge whether the safeguards are sufficient. "It's a bit surprising," he said. "I would have thought if it's good science, you publicise it." SBS News has contacted Agriculture Minister Julie Collins for comment. With additional reporting from AAP.

Hunter Biden says dad Joe was on Ambien during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump
Hunter Biden says dad Joe was on Ambien during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump

Sky News AU

time3 days ago

  • Sky News AU

Hunter Biden says dad Joe was on Ambien during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump

He really was Sleepy Joe! Hunter Biden claimed in a new interview that his father's disastrous performance in last year's debate with Donald Trump was due in part to Ambien. 'I know exactly what happened in that debate,' Hunter, 55, told YouTube personality Andrew Callaghan in an interview released Monday on the anniversary of Joe Biden ending his re-election bid. 'He flew around the world. He's 81 years old. He's tired. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep and he gets up on the stage and looks like a deer in the headlights.' It's unclear when exactly the elderly 46th president consumed the sleep aid, which has an increased risk of side effects like drowsiness among patients older than 70, whose bodies also process the drug more slowly, according to a FDA fact sheet. Hunter also didn't specify how long his father was on Ambien in the run-up to the debate. The then-president arrived hours later than scheduled to inspect the CNN debate stage on the night of July 27, 2024 — after spending more than four hours out of sight at a hotel nearby. The debate killed Biden's quest for re-election, with the then-president's mouth hanging agape for long stretches. In a stunning utterance viewed by tens of millions of voters, Biden nonsensically declared that he 'finally beat Medicare.' A Democratic Party rebellion ensued, forcing Biden to step aside on July 21, 2024, in favor of then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's presidential nominee. 'They said, 'We are going to blow up the party if you don't drop out,'' the former first son narrated in the interview. ''We're going to protest this all the way up for the next month, all the way up to the convention.'' Although the use of Ambien is very common, the drug was not disclosed on Biden's annual physical report last year, which was issued to reassure the public about the commander in chief's fitness. A memo released by then-presidential physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor on Feb. 28, 2024, makes note of six medications the commander-in-chief was taking — but the popular sleeping aid is not one of them. The Post also conducted a brief review of Joe Biden's publicly available medical records and found no mention of an Ambien prescription. O'Connor, who insisted that Biden's mental and physical fitness was 'excellent' following the debate, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination this month as he refused a House committee's questions. The doctor, a close Biden friend and longtime confidant, drew bipartisan scorn after Biden was diagnosed in May with stage 4 prostate cancer, which critics said should have been caught before it spread to the ex-president's bones. Joe Biden traveled to Italy to meet with G7 leaders from June 13-15, 2024 — days after stopping in France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. By June 20, 2024, the president had hunkered down at Camp David for debate prep ahead of the June 27 showdown. The former first son also downplayed the extent of the Democratic revolt against his father that led to Joe Biden giving up the Democratic nomination. 'The people who came out against him were nobody, except … Speaker Emeritus [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] did not give a full-throated endorsement,' he said. 'The entirety of the progressive side of the Democratic Party said Joe Biden has got more of our agenda accomplished in four years than any president in history.' Following the debate, Hunter Biden claimed, his father was left with the impossible task of proving to party leaders that he was up to carrying the Democratic standard against Trump. 'He gets over the hump, he goes and does the [ABC News anchor George] Stephanopoulos [interview]. Everybody goes, 'OK, that's not enough, we got to see him give a press conference,'' Hunter griped, referring to a media availability that July 12 at which Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 'Vladimir,' in apparent confusion with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Five days later, the White House announced that the president had tested positive for COVID-19, dealing a further blow to his attempt to get the campaign back on track. 'He woke up in the morning and he had a severe case of COVID, and the pictures of him getting on and off the plane were just devastating, and then the vultures descended,' Hunter recalled. 'So Joe Biden, I think, did the most selfless thing that I know of any politician in the history of this f—ing country,' he added. 'He stepped aside to save the party.' A rep for the former president did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Originally published as Hunter Biden says dad Joe was on Ambien during disastrous 2024 debate with Trump

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store