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CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta diagnosed President Donald Trump with heart disease during a Wednesday broadcast, despite the president receiving a clean - and "excellent" - bill of health following his medical examination on Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

What did Gupta say?

During the Wednesday airing of "New Day," Gupta analyzed the president's recent medical examination, and insisted that the president has heart disease.

CNN's chief medical correspondent explained that dating back to 2009, Trump was the recipient of calcium blood tests, diagnostics used to look for "the presence of calcium in the blood vessels that lead to the heart."

"Steadily, up until just this past week when he had it performed again, those numbers have gone up," Gupta explained, later noting that "when they get to a certain range," it means that Trump "has heart disease."

"When you look at the findings you just put up there, Alisyn - this coronary calcium score is a score a lot of cardiologists use to try and be predictive and be proactive," Gupta told "New Day" co-anchor Alisyn Camerota.

If the number exceeds 100, it's "concerning to a lot of doctors," Gupta added.

"It's concerning because you start to say if you do nothing different, if things don't change, you can start to predict the likelihood that some sort of heart event, some sort of cardiac event - a heart attack or something like that - within a certain number of years," Gupta explained.

Gupta noted that the trajectory of Trump's numbers over the years is concerning, considering they've reportedly continued to climb despite being on certain medications.

"So the president has heart disease," Gupta declared. "Those numbers qualify him for having heart disease. And it clearly needs a plan to prevent some kind of heart problem down the road."

Gupta also detailed his conversation with Trump's physician, Navy Rear Adm. Dr. Ronny Jackson, calling the interaction "interesting."
"At first he said he passed all the tests with flying colors," Gupta said. "When I asked him specifically about that test, he did then concede that, in fact, the president does have heart disease."


Comment: It seems questionable at best that the doctor who publicly presented Trump with a clean bill of health would then discuss the matter with a CNN affiliated doctor, knowing full well that anything said to CNN would be twisted and used to undermine the president. Hopefully more details will emerge regarding this 'interesting' conversation.


"They're going to be increasing the medications, including the cholesterol-lowering medications to try and combat that, but there's no question, by all standards, by all metrics, anyway a doctor or cardiologist will look at it, the president does have heart disease," he concluded.

What was revealed about Trump's exam on Tuesday?

Jackson - who has served as the presidential physician since 2013 - on Tuesday announced that Trump had a clean bill of health, specifying that his "overall health is excellent."

"[Trump's] cardiac performance during his physical exam was very good," Jackson said during a briefing at the White House. "He continues to enjoy the significant, long-term cardiac and overall health benefits that come from a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol."

Jackson added, however, that Trump should lose weight and exercise.