Trump claimed former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, said that he “was by far the healthiest” out of him, Obama and former President Joe Biden

President Donald Trump said he’s been told by a former White House physician that he’s the “healthiest” when it comes to himself and former President Barack Obama.

Speaking at a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Tuesday, Dec. 16, Trump, 79, started his speech by condemning the mass shooting in Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, Dec. 14, that killed 15 people and injured multiple others.

He then moved on to introduce those in attendance at the reception, saying when he got to Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, “He was my White House doctor. Ronny was asked, ‘Who’s the healthiest of all? Was it Barack Hussein Obama? Was it Sleepy Joe Biden? Or was it Donald Trump?’ And he said ‘Trump was by far the healthiest.’ “

Donald Trump shakes hands with White House Physician Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson, following his annual physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Jackson is a retired naval officer who served as the president’s physician during part of Trump’s first term and the second Obama administration, which began in January 2013. Trump’s first term as president ran from Jan. 20, 2017 to Jan. 20, 2021.

During Trump’s speech on Tuesday, the president claimed that Jackson was the doctor for “all three of us,” including Biden, 83. Though Biden was vice president when Jackson served as Obama’s White House doctor, he had a different physician during his own presidency. Jackson, meanwhile, pivoted careers after leaving the White House Medical Unit and has served as the Republican congressman for Texas’ 13th Congressional District since 2021.

Trump insisted Jackson had said that he “was by far the healthiest, I love him,” adding, “If he didn’t say that I would never have talked to him again … Ronny Jackson, what a great legend.”

Reps for Obama, 64, and Jackson, 58, did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.

Barack Obama (C) walks with his physician Dr. Ronny Jackson (2nd R) to Marine One after visiting with troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Jackson — who also held a lesser role in the White House Medical Unit during President George W. Bush‘s administration — has been involved in a series of scandals through the years, including reportedly being demoted by the Navy in 2022 for misconduct during his White House tenure, per a Washington Post report published in March 2024. In September of this year, the politician then shared a June letter from Navy Secretary John C. Phelan on X, informing him of the reinstatement.

This isn’t the first time the former White House physician, a MAGA loyalist, has commented on Trump’s health. In an August statement to the Daily Beast shared via the White House, Jackson said, “As President Trump’s former personal physician, former Physician to the President, and White House physician for 14 years across three administrations, I can tell you unequivocally: President Donald J. Trump is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen,” without mentioning other presidents by name.

Trump previously commented on Jackson saying he was “the healthiest of them all” at a Mar-a-Lago gala on Nov. 14, 2024, according to Newsweek.

“They [the press] asked the doctor, he was up in the podium, ‘Who’s the healthiest?’ because he was the doctor for Barack Hussein Obama, Donald Trump, and he was a doctor for Bush also,” Trump said at the time, per the outlet. “They said, ‘Who’s the healthiest of them all?’ He said, ‘Without question, it’s Donald Trump.’ “

Earlier this month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a memo from current White House physician Sean Barbabella, sharing information about two MRI tests Trump underwent at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October amid ongoing questions about the president’s health.

Donald Trump during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC
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Trump received both abdominal and cardiovascular scans during the visit, and, according to Barbabella, the results of both tests were “perfectly normal.”

The physician said Trump received the MRIs as part of his “comprehensive physical exam,” noting that men in the 79-year-old president’s age group “benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health,” adding that “he remains in excellent overall health.”

In July, Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that “causes blood to pool in your leg veins, leading to high pressure in those veins,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.

He is currently the oldest person to be elected president in the United States, and is on track to surpass President Joe Biden as the oldest sitting president before his term ends.