Should a president be allowed to keep his health a secret, or should he be forced to reveal problems and potential problems to the public?

According to The Hill, this is the question that is being raised by President Donald Trump's recent revelation that he underwent an MRI scan.

One could guess that left-wing outlets were more reluctant to raise such a question during the administration of Trump's predecessor.

Reporter: “Did you get an MRI [during your visit to Walter Reed Medical Center]? Can you tell us what that was?”

President Trump: “I did, I got an MRI. It was perfect, yep. I gave you the full results. We had an MRI.”

Reporter: “Can you say what in particular they were… pic.twitter.com/uKPYxCS1N7

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) October 27, 2025

Background

In case you missed it, President Trump recently revealed that he had undergone a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

Politico reported:

President Donald Trump said on Monday he had undergone an MRI scan during his recent visit to Walter Reed Medical Center, but did not offer further details on why. “It was perfect,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Tokyo, part of a week-long trip to Asia.

Trump told reporters, "I did. I got an MRI. It was perfect, yep. I gave you the full results. We had an MRI."

The mainstream media has attempted to use this as a springboard to raise questions about Trump's health. This, however, has not gained much traction considering that Trump appears to be in good shape.

Indeed, White House doctors report:

President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac pulmonary, neuroogical, and general physical function. His active lifestyle continues to contribute significantly to his well-being . . . President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.

Do the people have a right to know?

In its report, The Hill attempts to use various authorities to chip away at claims that Trump is in good health.

For example, the outlet reports:

Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician to three presidents and wrote a book about his experience called “Transforming Presidential Healthcare,” said he wasn’t surprised a 79-year-old man needed a second checkup and that it’s typical for presidents to go to Walter Reed for advanced imaging . . . But Kuhlman questioned the timeline of the treatment that was released by Trump’s physician Sean Barbabella. Aside from the MRI, other testing and preventive health screening could have been done in the White House doctor’s office in less than 15 minutes.

Conveniently, the outlet also admits that "Biden's aides and allies have faced questions about whether they covered up cognitive decline, and Biden’s doctor released good health reports."

The outlet then tries to use all of this to raise the question of whether or not presidents ought to be required to disclose actual and potential health issues to the public.

The outlet cites one authority as arguing:

Jacob Appel, a psychiatry professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a presidential health historian, said the selective release of information, or filtering information through political spin, doesn’t serve the public interest.