WASHINGTON — President recently had a after noticing “mild swelling” in his lower legs and was found to have a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins, the White House said Thursday.
President Donald Trump, left, greets Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Wednesday at the White House in Washington.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said tests by the White House medical unit showed that Trump has , which occurs when little valves inside the veins that normally help move blood against gravity gradually lose the ability to work properly.
Leavitt also addressed bruising on the back of Trump's hand, seen in recent photos covered by makeup that was not an exact match to his skin tone. She said the bruising was “consistent” with irritation from his “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” Trump takes to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
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She said during her news briefing that her disclosure of Trump's medical checkup was meant to dispel recent speculation about the 79-year-old president's health. Nonetheless, the announcement was notable given that the Republican president has routinely kept secret basic facts about his health.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt arrives Thursday to speak with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington.
Trump in April had a with more than a dozen medical specialists. The did not include a finding of chronic venous insufficiency. At the time, Trump's doctor, Sean Barbabella, determined that the president’s joints and muscles had a full range of motion, with normal blood flow and no swelling.
Leavitt did not say when Trump first noticed the swelling in his lower legs. As part of the president’s routine medical care and out of an “abundance of caution,” she said he had a “comprehensive exam” that included vascular, lower extremity and ultrasound testing.
She noted that chronic venous insufficiency is a benign condition that is common in people over age 70.
She said the tests revealed no evidence of deep vein thrombosis, a more serious medical condition in which a blood clot forms in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs. Nor was there any evidence of arterial disease, she said, reading a from Barbabella.
The left foot and swollen of President Donald Trump are pictured Wednesday as he sits with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
People often are advised to lose weight, walk for exercise and elevate their legs periodically, and some may be advised to wear compression stockings. Severe cases over time can lead to complications including lower leg sores called ulcers. Blood clots are one cause, but was ruled out, Leavitt said.
Leavitt said the condition wasn’t causing the president any discomfort. She wouldn’t discuss how he was treating the condition and suggested those details would be in the doctor’s letter, which later was released to the public. But the letter was the same as what she read, and did not include any additional details.
Dr. Anahita Dua, a vascular surgeon at Mass General Brigham who never treated Trump, said there is no cure for chronic venous insufficiency.
“The vast majority of people, probably including our president, have a mild to moderate form of it,” Dua said.
People with the condition can reduce the swelling by wearing medical-grade compression socks or stockings, to help the blood circulate back to the heart, or by walking, she said.
The exam the White House disclosed Thursday included other testing that found no signs of heart failure, renal impairment or systemic illness in Trump, Leavitt said.
“The president remains in excellent health, which I think all of you witness on a daily basis here,” she told reporters.
Retirement, interrupted: Why those over 55 are a fast-growing segment of the workforce
Retirement, interrupted: Why those over 55 are a fast-growing segment of the workforce
Joan Madden-Ceballos, a 65-year-old health care administrator, has a working life in California many would envy. Her work is flexible, fulfilling, and something she enjoys going back to day after day. "I'm a baby boomer, so work is sort of ingrained in our lives," .
While it may sound unusual for some to work past what many consider the "golden years" of retirement, Madden-Ceballos is among the increasing number of Americans who have stuck around the workforce longer as they age, according to federal data. Per 2023 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are 55 or older. Three in 20 working Americans are aged 55 to 64, while roughly 7 in 100 are older than 64.
From 2003 to 2023, there was a sizable jump in people 55 and older still in the workforce—nearly a 74% increase—but there were also profound jumps in those working who are 65 and older. The number of workers aged 65 to 74 jumped 139%, and those 75 and older increased by 113%.
explored data from the to examine why the aging workforce in the United States is working past the typical retirement age.
With longer lives and better health, seniors are choosing to work
There are a few reasons why many seniors are choosing to work past their retirement age.
Older Americans today are living longer and maintaining their physical independence longer. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, the average 65-year-old was , compared to just . A 2023 study of 5.4 million older Americans published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health also found that across 10 years, the number of people 65 and over with functional limitations .
Work may be a way to stay active in society for some older Americans. Workers aged 50 and older told researchers their jobs have , according to the 2024 University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. Nearly half said that work gave them a sense of purpose and kept their brains sharp. This reality is even more consistent for workers aged 65 and older, with 9 in 10 saying that working helped their overall well-being.
The nature of jobs has also changed. Nicole Maestas, professor of economics and health care policy at the Harvard Medical School, noted that " in today's information economy, so for some, it is easier to continue working."
A survey of 2,000 individuals aged 50 to 79 published by the National Bureau of Economic Research also found that job characteristics . According to researchers, nearly a third would likely keep working past 70 if their job offered flexible hours compared to just a sixth without that option. Job stress, the physical and mental demands of the job, telecommuting options, or commuting times were other factors that played into that decision.
Still, a sense of purpose and job characteristics are only part of the picture. When asked why workers aged 50 and older might keep working, the top reasons the University of Michigan poll respondents gave were related to finances. Nearly 4 in 5 (78%) workers said financial stability is what keeps them clocking in, followed by saving for retirement and access to health insurance.
Some older Americans can't afford to stop working
On multiple surveys, people reported a bleak savings picture and perspective on retirement. For a 2024 AARP survey, reported not having enough savings to be "financially secure" in retirement. In 2023, 2 in 5 respondents told Gallup they expected "," down from 3 in 5 in 2002.
Numerous factors could be driving this sentiment.
People could be working longer because a dollar does not stretch as far as it used to. , while the cost of goods, measured by the Consumer Price Index, has steadily increased. Renting or buying a home than decades ago. Gen Z dollars could buy of what baby boomers could in their 20s, according to Consumer Affairs.
A few decades ago, pensions were also more common. Employers managed the money for their employees' pensions, known as defined benefits plans, and paid employees for life after retirement. It was a guaranteed income benefit that typically started at a specific age, like 62, incentivizing older workers to plan for retirement. Benefit pensions became less common because of the .
Why older Americans are working longer
By the 1980s, defined contribution plans like 401(k)s became more widespread. These plans typically lack age-specific requirements, found Courtney Coile, a researcher in the economics of aging and health at Wellesley College, . A quarter of those return to work within six years in part- or full-time jobs.
Researchers from the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives also found that while current estimates use older generations with pensions as a basis for forecasts, newer retirees tended to draw down their savings at much faster rates, fueled in part because of longer life expectancies that increased the need for . Consequently, new retirees may exhaust their 401(k) assets by 85 years of age, likely outliving their savings.
Some older Americans may not even have enough to begin with. The Government Accountability Office found in 2024 that did not have any retirement savings as of 2022, and a third of households with a worker 55 or older did not have any retirement or defined benefit plan set by an employer to fall back on.
People may be working longer to delay pulling Social Security benefits, even increasing their monthly payments. Yet the existing financial safety net for older Americans is fraying. Social Security . The additional source of income for older workers, driven by a lifetime of workers' wages, is without congressional action, stated the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds in its 2024 annual report. Social Security and Medicare alone are insufficient for people to make ends meet. Half of older adults living alone, as well as 1 in 5 older couples, "," according to a 2022 study led by three gerontologists from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
"There's a myth that Social Security and Medicare miraculously take care of all of people's needs in older age," Ramsey Alwin, president and chief executive of the National Council on Aging, . "The reality is they don't, and far too many people are one crisis away from economic insecurity."
What can be done better?
need to happen to help older Americans—and the nation—prepare for the future as aging workers participate more in the economy.
Scholars from the AARP Public Policy Institute, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Brookings Institution are proponents of workers setting up dedicated emergency accounts that separate one's emergency savings from general savings, making it less likely to be spent for other needs. They also suggest that states explore putting employees into automatic individual retirement accounts unless they already have retirement plans. Vermont and 17 other states are already , according to Time. They are also encouraging the government to explore ways to make it easier for employees to move their retirement balances from one plan to another, making their hard-won savings less likely to be abandoned or forgotten.
Employers can also , knowing that older Americans will only be more present in the workplace. Employers can promote skills training for everyone, allow flexible work options, give workers a say in their schedules and work locations, and create an ergonomic workplace that addresses hazards more commonly faced by older workers, who may be more adversely affected by slips and trips. These changes may also benefit all generations in the workplace.
Strengthening financial security for an aging workforce
Leaders can also push back on harmful myths that affect older workers like their supposed opposition to change or decreased productivity. AARP research has found that aged 50 and older reported seeing or experiencing age discrimination in the workplace.
Finally, older employees who may not have enough money can try to improve their retirement outlook with a , CNBC reported. The first step is to calculate how much they might actually need for retirement rather than guessing. The , developed by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is a tool that can help older workers pinpoint how much they need.
Some workers may also consider shifting to part-time work before retiring fully.
Workers should also take advantage of IRS tax incentives aimed at helping workers save for the future. The could provide up to 50% of one's contribution based on a filer's adjusted gross income. There are also workers aged 50 and older can make to add to their retirement savings beyond the plan type or IRA contribution limit.
By 2040, people 65 and older are expected to comprise , according to the Administration for Community Living, an operating division of the Department of Health and Human Services. As the nation ages, the country will increasingly depend on older workers to fuel the country's economic activity. It would be ideal to have a working future, like Star Bradbury, the Gainesville, Florida-based author of "Successfully Navigating Your Parents' Senior Years."
"I know for myself that I am happier when I am working and happier when I am helping other people," Bradbury . She said that, at 75 years old, her job as an author and senior living strategist gave her "a sense of purpose and don't mind earning a little extra money. All those things add up to keep me working."
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Sofía Jarrín. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.
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