Trump health coverage contrasts with Biden media silence, MRI released

The White House releases the president Donald TrumpThe results of an MRI were released Monday amid growing scrutiny over the president’s health and 79-year-old age while serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

But four years ago, the media was overwhelmingly silent on the subject of presidential health when the then-most senior president in office during his term, Joe Bidenled from the Oval Office in a health saga that continued long after Biden withdrew from the 2024 federal election and exited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20.

Media and other scrutiny of Trump’s health intensified earlier in 2025 when he was seen with swollen legs in July while attending the Club World Cup final in New Jersey, as well as other photos dating back to February showing bruises on his hand.

The media recently focused on the MRI scan Trump received during a checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland in October, which the administration described as routine, with Trump’s doctor reporting that Trump was in “exceptional health.” It was Trump’s second examination in 2025, following a visit in April. Navy Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, the president’s physician, said Trump “remains in excellent health.”

White House provides Trump health update after MRI concerns

The results of Trump’s MRI were released on December 1, 2025, after Trump told the media the day before that he would release documents that he said found him in “excellent” health. (Francis Chung/Getty Images)

The White House has criticized the left-leaning media’s recent focus on Trump’s health as “garbage narratives,” accusing them of previously downplaying Joe Biden’s “severe deterioration in mental health” while in the Oval Office.

“No one believes the old, failed media’s deceptive obsession with President Trump’s health because we have all watched them actively cover up the severe decline in Joe Biden’s mental health over the last four years,” White House Press Secretary Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital on Monday.

“The facts are clear: President Trump has shared numerous comprehensive medical updates, as part of a full transparency effort, all of which show he is in excellent health. The fake news media spreading inane narratives about President Trump’s energy levels while publicly questioning him almost every day is why Americans’ trust in the media is at an all-time low.”

Fox News Digital takes a look at the mainstream media’s coverage of Biden’s health before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race at 11 amid growing concerns about his mental acuity, and the media’s recent focus on Trump’s health and ratings.

Trump health reports

Trump criticized the media for focusing on his health, which he said cast him in a negative light despite the administration releasing details to the public about Trump’s tests. For example, Trump criticized The New York Times in November for publishing an article that focused on his service in the Oval Office at age 79 while facing the “realities of aging.” Trump described the article as a “successful article” that came after years of the media publishing “deliberately negative” articles.

After reporters questioned the White House press secretary Caroline Levitt Regarding the details surrounding the November MRI, Trump told the media on Sunday evening when asked about the scan that he would release the MRI results to the public amid media scrutiny.

The White House released the results of Trump’s MRI on Monday when Levitt read the report to the media and found Trump to be in normal and good health.

“The purpose of this imaging is preventative to identify any problems early, confirm overall health, and ensure the primate maintains vitality and performance over the long term,” Leavitt said. “…Overall, his cardiovascular system shows excellent health.”

Trump reveals he got a ‘perfect’ MRI during recent Walter Reed examination

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said on December 1, 2025, that the White House would soon release the results of President Trump’s October MRI. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Left-leaning and mainstream media outlets have been pressing the White House about Trump’s health for months, a shift that intensified after photos of his swollen legs and bruised hands appeared online. While Trump entered his second term as the oldest person ever inaugurated at the age of 78, the questions did not arise until this summer. The White House attributed the bruising to repeated handshakes and said the swelling was caused by chronic venous insufficiency, which is a “benign and common condition, especially in individuals over the age of 70,” according to Levitt.

Accusations of “covering up” over Biden’s health

The media had previously been in the White House’s crosshairs for its increased focus on Trump’s health following Biden’s presidency, which reached a peak in July 2024 when Biden withdrew from his re-election race at the 11th hour amid growing concerns about his declining mental acuity.

“I can tell you there was certainly a lack of transparency from the former president, from the entire previous administration,” Leavitt told reporters in April. “And frankly, there are a lot of people in this room when it comes to the health and competence of former US President Joe Biden.”

The Washington Post editorial board wrote that Congress should conduct a comprehensive investigation into the nature of former President Biden’s health deterioration as president. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Care Can’t Wait Action)

The Trump administration, as well as conservative pundits and liberal journalists, have repeatedly criticized the cover-up of Biden’s declining health following a wave of political memos recounting 2024 and Biden’s presidency, including the allegation that Biden staffers were aware of and concerned about the president’s mental decline but publicly promoted him as physically and mentally fit to serve as president.

Biden’s mental acuity has been under the conservative microscope since before the 2020 election. However, concerns did not escalate among the mainstream media until February 2024, when special counsel Robert Hoare, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents while he was vice president, announced that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possession of classified materials after he became vice president, describing Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning old man with a failing memory.”

Conservatives have criticized that the report proved that Biden’s mental acuity was, in fact, steadily declining, pointing to the president’s increasingly ambiguous public statements, a major fall while boarding Air Force One in 2021, and another while biking in Delaware in 2022.

Biden has denied that he suffered cognitive decline while in the White House, including during a May interview with “The View,” when he said new books detailing alleged mental decline were “false.”

Then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned by the media in June 2023 over Biden’s repeated public falls, including when he fell during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado and tripped on a set of steps in Japan that year. But it wasn’t until 2024 that the White House press corps repeatedly pressed the administration about the president’s health.

Trump was declared in “excellent general health” by a doctor after visiting Walter Reed

The final year of Biden’s presidency included a host of public gaffes and missteps, including the sight of former President Barack Obama taking Biden’s wrist to apparently lead him off the stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles in June 2024, and another widely circulated video showing the then-president standing relatively motionless during a Juneteenth concert at the White House.

The Biden White House brushed off concerns surrounding the videos by calling the footage “cheap fakes,” which the administration described as real videos that were allegedly cropped or edited in a deceptive way.

2024 debate performance opens doors to health coverage for Biden

Concern about Biden’s mental acuity peaked in June 2024 after he took the debate stage to face Trump in the election cycle. Biden’s performance in the debate was considered a failure, as traditional allies quickly joined conservatives in their concern about the president’s health in the context of encouraging Biden to pass the mantle to a younger generation of American leaders.

He asked: “Is anyone in the White House hiding information about the president’s health or his ability to carry out the task day after day?” one journalist asked Jean-Pierre during the first press conference after the disastrous debate.

Another said: “I have said several times now that the White House has provided comprehensive medical records for the President. The White House released a six-page summary in February. I do not believe that was necessarily a complete accounting.” Dr. O’Connor, in that memo, described the President as “a healthy, active, and vigorous man of 81 years who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

President Joe Biden joins President-elect Donald Trump in the Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025, for Trump’s inauguration. (Melina Mara/Getty Images)

“I think that’s clearly not what the majority of Americans see,” the reporter added.

While another asked: “Why don’t we post more about his medical condition – his physical and mental health? Why not?”

The 46th president eventually withdrew from the race at the end of July 2024, giving his successor the nomination, former Vice President Kamala Harrisjust over 100 days to rally support.

Concern about Biden’s health spilled over into the Trump administration, as Biden’s team announced in May that the former president was undergoing treatment for advanced prostate cancer that had not been detected while he was in the Oval Office. In addition, Trump criticized his predecessor’s use of the stylus to sign official presidential documents, including executive orders and pardons, and announced that he would end all documents signed with the stylus.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after speaking to troops via video from his Mar-a-Lago home on Thanksgiving, November 27, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The lack of media coverage of Biden’s health was underscored during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, when an Axios reporter, who has written a book about Biden’s deteriorating health, attacked the Biden administration and his media colleagues for a “cover-up.”

Axios reporter attacks media for mocking coverage of Biden’s retreat at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

“President Biden’s retreat and cover-up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House, regardless of party, is capable of deception,” Alex Thompson, an Axios reporter and co-author of “Original Sin: President Biden’s Retreat, His Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” said over the dinner.

He added: “But telling the truth also means telling the truth about ourselves. We, myself included, have missed a lot of this story. And some people trust us less because of it. We bear some responsibility for trust in the media reaching such low levels.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for any comment and update on his health and the recent media focus on Trump’s health but did not immediately receive a response.