Fact Check: Did Trump say an MRI of his brain 'found nothing'?

WASHINGTON, DC: A claim has been circulating online since the recent report about President Donald Trump's MRI.

The claim says that Trump announced the MRI found nothing in his brain, which has been widely circulating on social media, with some expressing speculations about whether such a medical test actually took place. Let us look into the origin of the claims.

Claim: Trump announced that MRI scan of his brain found nothing

At the beginning of this month, a rumor spread online claiming that Trump announced an MRI scan of his brain "found nothing." 

The viral post came with a caption saying, “WASHINGTON—Boasting about his cognitive health, on Monday Donald J Trump asserted that an MRI performed on his brain found nothing."I had a perfect MRI," he told reporters.

"The greatest doctors in the country looked at my brain and came up empty. "Trump said there was no point in releasing his MRI because "there's nothing to see," adding, "It's like the East Wing."

Variations of the rumor spread on Reddit, Facebook, and TikTok amid increasing pressure for Trump to release the results of his MRI, which he underwent in October.

Fact Check: MRI was not done on Donald Trump's brain

Announcing the results, the White House on Monday, December 1, released a memo saying that Trump's cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was "perfectly normal.”

When a reporter asked Trump on Dec. 1 what part of the body the MRI was looking at, he said, "I have no idea … it wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”

However, there was no evidence that Trump announced an MRI scan of his brain "found nothing.”

The rumor originated from ‘The Borowitz Report, ’ a site that describes its output as satirical in nature. 

Its author, Andy Borowitz, wrote on its About page: "I've been writing satirical news since I was eighteen. This represents either commitment to a genre or arrested development.”

A Google search of the keywords "Trump Claims MRI on His Brain Found Nothing" generated results related only to the satirical story in question.

Speculations about Trump's health

Being the oldest person ever to be elected as president, Trump has faced a series of questions about his health since returning to office.

In July, the White House revealed Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency after pictures captured him with massively swollen ankles, a common condition in older people where the leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart.

At the time, the White House insisted there had been no changes to the president’s routine, and he was not taking any new medication to treat it.

But the president was seen with a recurring bruise on the top of his right hand, which he had attempted to cover with a glob of cover-up, but other times he has been seen with the deep purple bruise.

But the White House insisted it is the result of constant handshaking while taking aspirin as part of his routine.