Has Donald Trump ever been hospitalized and when?
Executive summary
Yes — Donald J. Trump has been hospitalized: most notably on Oct. 2, 2020, when he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19 and experiencing fever and labored breathing [1]. Since then he has undergone medical evaluations and imaging at Walter Reed (CT/MRI scans reported in 2025), but major U.S. outlets and fact-checkers say recent social-media claims of a December 2025 helicopter transfer and secret hospitalization are unfounded [2] [3] [4].
1. The clear case: Walter Reed, Oct. 2020 — hospitalization for COVID-19
The singular, well-documented hospitalization in public reporting occurred during his first term: after Trump and the first lady announced positive COVID-19 tests on Oct. 2, 2020, the president was taken to Walter Reed and treated for symptoms that included fever and labored breathing — a hospital admission that was widely reported contemporaneously and is recorded in retrospectives on his health [1].
2. Subsequent medical visits vs. hospital admissions — scans and “workups” at Walter Reed in 2025
In 2025 Trump underwent additional medical evaluations at Walter Reed that included imaging of his cardiovascular system and abdomen; his physician later said he received a CT scan (not an MRI, according to Trump’s public comments) during an October exam and that the results showed no major abnormalities, while other outlets reported both CT and MRI usage during the year’s workups [3] [5] [6] [2] [7]. Those reports frame the encounters as diagnostic examinations and “workups” or an annual physical rather than an emergency hospitalization, and the White House described at least one visit as an agreed meeting with staff and soldiers at the hospital [5] [3].
3. Debunked rumors and the media context: December 2025 helicopter claims
A wave of social-media posts in December 2025 claimed live White House cameras were turned off while Trump’s helicopter headed to a hospital, implying a secret hospitalization; Snopes and mainstream outlets found no evidence of a hospital admission and explained the livestream downtime as routine, concluding no credible reporting supported the rumor [4]. That episode illustrates how real medical visits and diagnostic scans can spawn misinformation amid intense scrutiny of Trump’s health [4] [8].
4. Underlying health notes that inform reporting but don’t equate to hospitalization
Coverage through 2025 and early 2026 repeatedly referenced medical details — chronic venous insufficiency after leg swelling, an aspirin regimen that causes easy bruising, controlled hypertension and routine findings like diverticulosis — which have driven questions about fitness for office but are not the same as hospital admissions; these conditions were reported in physician memos and medical-year reviews and have been used by critics and some clinicians to press for transparency [2] [9] [6]. News outlets and commentators differ on emphasis: some stress clinical reassurances from the president’s doctors, others highlight observable signs (dozing, bruising, swelling) and expert concern [6] [8] [10].
5. What reporting can and cannot support — a concise conclusion
Reporting definitively shows at least one hospitalization (Walter Reed, Oct. 2, 2020, for COVID-19) and documents later diagnostic visits and imaging at Walter Reed in 2025 that were reported as scans or workups rather than emergency admissions [1] [3] [2] [7]. Claims of additional secret hospitalizations — for example the Dec. 18–19, 2025 helicopter story — have been investigated and debunked by fact-checkers and lack corroboration in major outlets [4]. Where sources conflict about scan types or characterization of visits, reporting reflects those disagreements and the White House’s framing that some encounters were scheduled evaluations or public-facing visits at Walter Reed [3] [5].