White House reporter's question, 'Is Trump eating less McDonald's?' irritates netizens

As the markets continue to react to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have now been paused for 90 days (with the exception of China, for whom Trump has hiked tariffs to 125 per cent), you might expect this and other foreign affairs to be top of the agenda when it came to the White House press briefing on Friday.

Yet one question from a conservative reporter has taken people by surprise on social media, as she asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt if she would consider “releasing the president’s fitness plan”.

Cara Castronuova, a former champion boxer and ex-trainer on The Biggest Loser who is now a reporter for LindellTV, founded by MyPillow owner and Trump supporter Mike Lindell, said: “[Trump] actually looks healthier than ever before – healthier than he did eight years ago, and I’m sure everybody in this room could agree.

“Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and eating less McDonald's?”

The question came as Leavitt confirmed the president was undergoing “his routine and long scheduled physical” examination at Walter Reed Medical Center.

Smiling, Leavitt told Castronuova: “I can confirm the president is in very good shape, as you see on a near daily basis here.”

The awkward question has sparked ridicule online, with one tweet comparing the exchange to a skit off Saturday Night Live.

Another likened it to something out of North Korea.

And a third claimed the question wasn’t “journalism”, but rather “devotion”.

Elsewhere, Trump told reporters travelling with him on Air Force One to Florida that he “got every answer right” in the cognitive test part of his physical, adding that he thought he “did well”.

He said: “Overall I felt I was in very good shape. Good heart, a good soul, a very good soul.

“I took a cognitive test. I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right.”

Trump was even asked by one reporter if the cognitive test was “Man, Woman, Person, Camera, TV”, in reference to a Fox News interview about the test during his first term which went viral online.

The president didn’t seem to pick up on this, though, and instead said: “I think it’s a pretty well-known test.

“I got every one right.”

The Independent