--- title: Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After Trump's MRI Results description: The fictional medical letter, penned by “Dr. Dolittle,” imitated some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician. canonical: https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/ author: Olivia-Anne Cleary article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-12-02T13:58:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:38:02.647Z article:section: Politics og:title: Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After Trump's MRI Results og:description: The fictional medical letter penned by “Dr. Dolittle" imitated some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician. og:url: https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf095fff0b22668ed/6998c94d47fe51a54555c036/GettyImages-2195138698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 8256 og:image:height: 4644 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After Trump's MRI Results twitter:description: The fictional medical letter penned by “Dr. Dolittle" imitated some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf095fff0b22668ed/6998c94d47fe51a54555c036/GettyImages-2195138698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Healthiest Person Alive': Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After White House Doctor Cites Trump's 'Excellent' MRI Results > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Dec 2, 2025 1:58 PM UTC  California's Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. President Donald Trump at Los Angeles International Airport in California on Jan. 24, 2025. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. President Donald Trump at Los Angeles International Airport in California on Jan. 24, 2025. Mandel Ngan—Getty Images  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Dec 2, 2025 1:58 PM UTC California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office responded to the White House [sharing a memorandum](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1995569253748211743/photo/1) about President Donald Trump’s MRI [results](https://time.com/7337936/trump-mri-results-health-white-house/) by posting his [own mock medical report.](https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1995659642899497393/photo/1) The latest rift with Trump, which has seen the Californian Democrat hold a mirror to the MAGA playbook by adopting the President’s social media vernacular, saw Newsom’s office promote a so-called summary of Newsom’s “advanced imaging results.” The fictional medical letter, penned by “Dr. Dolittle,” imitated—and exaggerated—some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician. Newsom’s cardiovascular scans were referred to as the “best” ever recorded and his arteries described as “shimmering.” The letter then appeared to poke fun at [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-age-health.html) that Trump is showing signs of fatigue, stating that Newsom “completes full work days without falling asleep in meetings.” In conclusion, the faux medical report, signed by the “California Department of Peak Excellence,” remarked that Newsom remains “the healthiest person alive and ever to live.” Newsom’s post comes after Trump’s physician, Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, penned a letter about the President’s own “advanced imaging results.” The note stated that Trump’s cardiovascular system “shows excellent health” and confirmed that the 79-year-old “remains in excellent overall health.” Trump, who is the oldest U.S. President sworn into office, underwent his [annual physical in April](https://time.com/7277406/president-donald-trump-health-physical-results-medical-records/)—the results of which saw his doctor determine he is “fully fit” to be Commander-in-Chief. But Trump prompted renewed questions about his health when he revealed he had undergone an MRI in October during a semi-annual check-up at the Walter Reed Hospital. When asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One last month why he underwent the MRI, Trump said it was part of his “standard” checks and that [the doctor had told him](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Oj16XssBPAo) it was “the best result he \[had\] ever seen.” He went on to say he had “no idea” what was analyzed during the scans. Within Monday’s White House memorandum, which was released amid calls for more information on Trump’s MRI, Dr. Barbabella said the President had undergone the advanced imaging because “men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.” Earlier this year, it was announced—amid online speculation about swelling around Trump’s ankles and bruises on his hands—that the President has “chronic venous insufficiency.” Dr. Ali Azizzadeh, professor and director of vascular surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, [told TIME](https://time.com/7303280/what-is-chronic-venous-insufficiency-trump/) that the condition is “a very common diagnosis” and is “not dangerous.” However, Trump’s health was a topic of discussion long before he returned to the White House for a second term. The subject of age and health dominated throughout the early presidential campaign between Trump and former President Joe Biden, now 83\. Trump’s age became more of a focal point after Biden [dropped out of the election](https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/) in 2024, amid reports members of his party were concerned over [his health and age](https://time.com/6693305/biden-age-memory-trump-campaign/). (Trump has since accused Biden’s former aides of [concealing his “serious cognitive decline”](https://time.com/7291354/trump-orders-investigation-into-biden-and-aides/) and abusing the power of Presidential signatures—claims Biden has referred to as “ridiculous and false.”) Trump faced renewed public calls to release his [medical files](https://time.com/7099183/donald-trump-medical-records-absent-controversy-presidential-election-2024/) in 2024, after he had repeatedly vowed to do so. At that point, he had failed to deliver more than a 2023 [social media update](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111444920245122377) that shared a screenshot of a letter from Dr. Bruce Aronwald, sharing little detail other than saying Trump was in “excellent health.” Calls for transparency from Trump’s team intensified after former Vice President Kamala Harris, after replacing Biden in the presidential race, [released her own medical records](https://time.com/7086331/kamala-harris-medical-report-revelations-donald-trump-health-updates-contrast/) and urged Trump to do the same. Since returning to the White House, Trump has shared the results of his medical examinations and has continued to boast of his great health. But he has, at times, been unable to shake lingering [questions](https://time.com/7314050/trump-health-speech-takeaways/). Meanwhile, Trump and Newsom continue to be online sparring partners. Newsom has notably upped the ante when it comes to trolling Trump. Earlier this year he released his own [“real patriot” alternative](https://time.com/7291354/trump-orders-investigation-into-biden-and-aides/) to Trump’s MAGA merchandise. When discussing his own social media activity, which somewhat replicates the MAGA playbook, Newsom told reporters in August that he hopes it serves as a “wake-up call to the President of the United States, following his example.” “If you have issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as President. To the extent it's gotten attention, I'm pleased,” said Newsom, before going on to question “how have we allowed the normalization of his \[Trump's\] tweets, Truth Social posts over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice?” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/"},"headline":"'Healthiest Person Alive': Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After White House Doctor Cites Trump's 'Excellent' MRI Results","datePublished":"2025-12-02T13:58:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:38:02.647Z","description":"The fictional medical letter, penned by “Dr. Dolittle,” imitated some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician.","url":"https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf095fff0b22668ed/6998c94d47fe51a54555c036/GettyImages-2195138698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia-Anne Cleary","jobTitle":"Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf095fff0b22668ed/6998c94d47fe51a54555c036/GettyImages-2195138698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7337996/newsom-mock-health-report-trump-mri-results-medical-records-controversy/","name":"'Healthiest Person Alive': Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After White House Doctor Cites Trump's 'Excellent' MRI Results"}}]}] ```