WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has put on some pounds and is now officially considered obese.
The White House on Thursday released results of his most recent physical, revealing that his Body Mass Index is now 30.4. That’s based on the fact that he’s now carrying 243 pounds on his 6-foot, 3-inch frame. That’s up from 236 pounds in September 2016 before he became president.
An index rating of 30 is the level at which doctors consider someone obese under this commonly used formula. About 40 percent of Americans are obese, and that raises their risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some forms of cancer.
Trump doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke, but he’s not a big fan of the gym either. His primary form of exercise is golf. And he says he gets plenty of walking in around the White House complex.
As for his diet, Trump’s love of fast food remains. Last month, he invited the college football champion Clemson Tigers to the White House during the partial government shutdown. With the White House kitchen too understaffed to cater a meal, Trump stepped in: He ordered burgers, french fries and pizza.
Despite gaining four pounds from last year, Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said the 72-year-old president “remains in very good health overall.”
His resting heart rate is 70 beats a minute and his blood pressure reading was 118 over 80, well within the normal range.
Conley said routine lab tests were performed and Trump’s liver, kidney and thyroid functions are all normal as were his electrolytes and blood counts. An electrocardiogram, a test that measures electrical activity generated by the heart as it beats, remained unchanged from last year.
“Despite the fact that he’s obese, his blood pressure is normal,” said Dr. Mariell Jessup, the Heart Association’s chief science and medical officer.
Using the association’s heart risk calculator, “he has a 17 percent chance of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years,” mostly because of his age and slightly elevated bad cholesterol, she said.
Modern-day presidents have undergone regular exams to catch any potential problems but also to assure the public that they are fit for office. Trump went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week for his second periodic physical, which lasted about four hours. During his exam, he received a flu shot and an inoculation to help prevent shingles, a viral infection that causes a painful rash.
“I performed and supervised the evaluation with a panel of 11 different board-certified specialists,” Conley wrote in a memorandum to the White House. “He did not undergo any procedures requiring sedation or anesthesia.”
His cholesterol reading improved since last year.
At his physical in January 2018, his total cholesterol was 223, which his higher than recommended, even though he was taking a low dose of the statin drug Crestor to help lower so-called “bad” cholesterol and fats. Last year, his doctor said he would increase that dose in an effort to get Trump’s bad cholesterol reading of 143 down below 120.
Now, Trump’s total cholesterol is down to 196, yet his LDL or “bad” cholesterol is 122 — slightly elevated. Conley said he planned to increase the dosage of a statin drug to 40 milligrams a day to bring the president’s cholesterol reading down further.
Dr. Robert Eckel, a former American Heart Association president and cardiologist at the University of Colorado, said he would aim for an LDL below 100.
“Losing some weight would help modify some of the risk factors for heart disease,” Eckel said. “A 20- to 25-pound weight loss would be what I’d recommend if he were my patient. And that’s not a quick fix.”
Trump gains weight, now considered obese; cholesterol down
Trump gains weight, now considered obese; cholesterol down
- Trump doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke, but he’s not a big fan of the gym either
- About 40 percent of Americans are obese, and that raises their risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some forms of cancer
Burkinabe teen behind viral French ‘coup’ video has no regrets
- “Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel
- Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes”
PARIS: A Burkinabe teenager who used artificial intelligence to post fake news of a French coup on Facebook got more than he bargained for.
As well as millions of views and tens of thousands of “likes,” he also acquired a certain notoriety — and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, was not amused.
And what he had planned as a money-making scheme only netted him seven euros, he said. But he has no regrets.
“Coup d’etat in France,” declared the video, posted by the 17-year-old, showing what appeared to be journalists reporting on an ongoing takeover by an unidentified colonel.
In one shot, the Eiffel Tower and the blue lights from a police car flashed in the background.
“Demonstrators have gathered to support the colonel who seems to have taken power yesterday,” said the reporters.
It was all fake, of course: the product of his online training in the use of artificial intelligence.
Posted on December 9 on TikTok, then shortly afterwards on Facebook, the post went viral, garnering more than 12 million views and tens of thousands of “likes.”
Last Tuesday, when Macron was asked about the video during a visit to Marseille, he spoke of his frustration at not having been able to force Facebook to take it down.
They had told him that it did not violate their rules, he said.
Money-making goal
In the end, it was the creator himself who deleted it, shortly after the French news media started contacting him.
Speaking to AFP, he explained that he had got into creating AI-generated videos last year after finding a training course on YouTube. But he only really started producing in October 2025.
He was taken aback by his sudden celebrity and that the French media was reporting on and even interviewing him.
He laughed about all the fuss in a video posted to his Facebook page.
But the teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, was clear that his real aim had been to make money from advertising attached to his posts.
Not that he was living in poverty, he added.
“I eat, I can get to school, my parents take good care of me, thank God,” he told AFP.
But he wanted more to gain “financial independence,” he added.
He had seen “loads of pages that get millions of views” and had heard that TikTok paid money to producers, so he jumped into social media to see what he could do.
After a bit of trial and error, he latched on to AI-generated fake news because it generated more online traffic.
“I haven’t yet made a lot of money that way,” he admitted.
His Facebook page was not yet monetised, though he had made a little money from TikTok.
Normally, Africa is not a region that is eligible for monetization on the platform but he said he had found a way around that.
While his viral video on the fake coup in France may not have been a moneyspinner, he has used it to promote an offer of online training in AI-generated content on Facebook.
“There are people who have got in touch with me after this video, at least five people since last week,” he said.
For one hour’s coaching, he makes 7,000 CFA francs (10 euros).
No regrets
France is frequently the target of disinformation, in particular from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Since a string of military coups there, all three countries have distanced themselves from France, the former colonial power, and moved instead toward Russia.
The Burkinabe junta in particular has become adept at AI-generated propaganda videos. They have included false clips of celebrities such as singer Beyonce or Pope Leo XIV singing the praises of Ibrahim Traore, the military government’s leader.
Burkina Faso also has a group of influential cyberactivists who promote the government’s propaganda online, known as the “Rapid-Intervention Communication Battalion.”
The teenager behind the fake French coup video told AFP he was not part of that group.
But while his main motivation was far from being political, he was happy to take a passing shot at France.
“I also created this video to scare people,” he said.
Some French media personalities and politicians do not present a fair view of what is going on in Africa’s Sahel region, instead broadcasting “fake news,” he said.
He cited recent reports that the Malian capital, Bamako, was on the point of falling to jihadist forces.
Informed sources agree that if the military government there was in difficulty recently from a jihadist blockage of supply routes, it has not so far been threatened to the point of losing power.
The French authorities “have no regrets about publishing false statements on the AES,” said the teenager.
“So I’m not going to regret publishing false things about them!“
