President Donald Trump's reported weight has come into question after an analysis of his latest White House physical, which placed him just short of the threshold for obesity.

Writing in The New Republic, journalist Timothy Noah revisited the president's official height record, arguing that a seemingly minor discrepancy could place Trump squarely in the obesity category.

A memorandum dated May 29 from White House physician Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella reported that Trump weighed 238 pounds and stood 6 feet, 3 inches tall. At those measurements, the president's body mass index works out to approximately 29.7 — what Noah described as a "whisker shy" of obesity. Standard adult screening guidelines classify a BMI of 30 or higher as obese, meaning the president missed the mark by what appears to be a technicality. Because BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight by the square of their height, even a single inch in the recorded measurement can be enough to cross that classification line.

However, Noah argued that older government records contradict the official height. Through a public records request in 2016, Politico obtained Trump's New York driver's license, issued in 2012, which listed him at 6, 2 inches. His 1964 Selective Service registration card also recorded his height at 6 feet, 2 inches, The Washington Post reported in 2015.

On the basis of that evidence, Noah declared: "Trump isn't six foot three; he's six foot two." Applying the president's latest reported weight to the one-inch-shorter height produces a BMI of approximately 30.6, placing Trump inside the obesity range.

Noah also noted that people generally lose height as they age, which means the 80-year-old president could actually be shorter today. Numerous photographs of Trump standing beside people listed at 6 feet 3, such as Prince William, or the 6-foot-2 JD Vance, suggest he has shrunk over the years.

The president's recorded weight has also shifted considerably over time. His April 2025 physical listed him at 224 pounds, meaning the May 2026 report showed a 14-pound increase. During his first administration, Trump's reported weight reached 243 pounds in 2019 — a figure that would have placed him in the obese category even at the listed 6-foot-3 height.

Noah additionally compared Trump's recalculated BMI with those of previous presidents. At 30.6, Trump would rank above Theodore Roosevelt and Zachary Taylor, though he would not hold the record as the most obese president: he remains below William Howard Taft, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley.

The White House medical memorandum described Trump's overall health as excellent, though his doctors have urged him to lose weight and increase his physical activity. Presidential physicals are typically summarized in memoranda released by the White House, and because the figures speak to the fitness of the person holding the office, they tend to draw outside analysis rather than remain a private medical matter. BMI is a screening tool rather than a complete assessment of an individual's health, as many athletic individuals register a high BMI because the measure does not account for muscle mass.

Trump, however, does not go to the gym. As for his workout routine, the president said: "I walk, I this, I that."