Donald Trump has marked US President Joe Biden 's 81st birthday by releasing a letter from his physician that reports the former president is in "excellent" physical and mental health.
The letter posted on Trump's social media platform contained no details to support its claims -- measures like weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any test.
Dr Bruce A Aronwald, a New Jersey physician who says he has been Trump's doctor since 2021 and most recently examined him in September, reported that Trump's "physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional."
He added that Trump's recent results were "even more favourable than prior testing" thanks to recent weight loss from "improved diet and continued daily physical exercise, while maintaining a rigorous schedule."
The doctor concluded the 77-year old is "currently in excellent health" and "will continue to enjoy a healthy active lifestyle for years to come".
While Trump isn't all that much younger than Biden, polls consistently find that Americans view age as more of a liability for the president.
An August poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that 77 per cent of US adults, including 69 per cent of Democrats, viewed Biden as too old to be effective for four more years, while only 51 per cent of adults -- and just 28 per cent of Republicans -- said the same about Trump.
Still, Trump's rivals have tried to highlight his age by pointing attention to his own recent flubs, including mixing up the city and state where he was campaigning.
"The presidency is not a job for somebody that's pushing 80 years old," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's rivals, said on CNN Sunday, casting himself as a man "in the prime of my life."
Attestations of Trump's rigour by his doctors have become a genre of their own.
In late December 2015, during his first campaign for the Republican nomination, Trump's campaign released a glowing letter from the late Dr. Harold N Bornstein that claimed Trump, a known fast food aficionado who eschewed vigorous exercise, would "unequivocally" be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."
Bornstein later revealed that Trump had dictated the glowing assessment himself, calling it "black humour" and admitting that he had written it in five minutes while a limo sent by the then-candidate waited outside his office.
Later, White House Dr. Ronny Jackson offered a glowing report in which he extolled Trump's "incredible genes".
Jackson said Trump had performed "exceedingly well" on a surprise cognitive screening test designed to detect early signs of memory loss and other mild cognitive impairment. Trump continues to brag about the results to this day.
Australian Associated Press
