Donald Trump Had Walter Reed Doctors Sign NDAs, Report Says

Donald Trump reportedly had doctors from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center sign NDAs during his stay last year. According to NBC News, four sources close familiar to the situation revealed that when the president showed up at the hospital last November, no doctors who refused to sign the nondisclosure agreements were permitted to be involved with his care. The outlet adds that least two doctors did in fact refuse to sign the NDA's.

Notably, that visit remains to be a mystery, as the White House has refused to reveal any info about it, other than to say that it was so he could start his annual physical, but as of May he still had not fished it. Notably, it is not often that a president would have their routine exam spread out over several months, let alone fail to complete it at all. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss commented on this, saying, "As a part of granting a president as much power as we do, he has the obligation to demonstrate that he is well or, if he is not, to let us know exactly what is amiss."

"From the time in the 1950s when Dwight Eisenhower released unprecedented information about the heart attack, ileitis and stroke he suffered in office, most presidents have fulfilled that demand, including releasing the results of regular physicals," Beschloss went on to say. "Too often in history have presidents concealed secret illnesses and medicine routines that had the potential to undermine their leadership, and the wellbeing of all of us." Trump was again hospitalized at Walter Reed last weekend, after becoming infected with COVID-19.

On Oct. 2, 74-year-old Trump tweeted that he and First Lady Melania had tested positive for COVID-19. He stated that they would be quarantining "together" and assured his supporters that he would "get through it." Later that day, he was taken to Walter Reed for more thorough medical treatment. On Sunday, Trump had a security motorcade drive him around outside the hospital, so that he could wave to the crowd of supporters that gathered.

However, that did not go over well with all of the hospital's staff, as Dr. James Phillips took to Twitter to criticize the move. "That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures," he wrote. "The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play." Trump has since been released to continue medical treatment at the White House.