'Makes No Sense To Me': CNN Doctor Reveals 'Hazard' Of Trump's Health Revelation

CNN medical analyst Dr Jonathan Reiner on Friday said US President Donald Trump’s explanation of his aspirin use “makes no sense.” 

Trump, 79, told The Wall Street Journal that he has a reason for taking a high dose of the drug against the advice of his doctors and despite the visible bruising it’s caused on his hands. 

“I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart,” he told the newspaper. “Does that make sense?” 

Reiner said it doesn’t ― noting that blood thinners such as aspirin don’t literally “thin” the blood, as Trump seems to think. 

“It’s not like changing something from gumbo to chicken soup,” he said. “It doesn’t make it thinner. It makes you less likely to clot.” 

Reiner, who was a longtime cardiologist for the late former Vice President Dick Cheney, said many patients were once given aspirin to prevent heart attacks, but that advice has changed over the years, especially for people over 70. 

“Not only is there no benefit in terms of just primary prevention ― trying to prevent a cardiac event by giving them aspirin ― that there can be hazard,” he said. “And the hazard can be bleeding, significant bleeding.” 

Trump, he noted, told the Journal that he’s taking 325 mg of aspirin daily. 

“But the dosage that we use for patients even with documented coronary artery disease is a quarter that, is 81 mg per day,” Reiner said. “So why is the president taking an unorthodox dose of aspirin?” 

Trump, he pointed out, has been frequently seen with bruises on his hands. He’s often used bandages and concealer to cover them up, as in this image from December 2025: 

The White House has said the bruising is due to both aspirin use and frequent handshaking. 

However, The Wall Street Journal said there have been “several instances” in which his hand has been cut, leading to bleeding that has “alarmed” witnesses. One such incident happened at the 2024 Republican National Convention when Pam Bondi ― future attorney general ― high-fived Trump, nicking him with a ring in the process. 

Trump in the WSJ interview dismissed it as a “slight little cut.”

The bruises, and use of concealer to cover them, have become a regular part of his appearance. The president admitted that his doctors want him on the lower dosage of 81 mg per day, but said he’s ignoring that advice because he’s “a little superstitious.” 

That revelation baffled Reiner.

“If you were bruising a lot, and your doctor says you’re on too much aspirin, why wouldn’t you go down to the lower dose?” he wondered. “It makes no sense to me.” 

See more of his analysis below: