LESTER HOLT (HOST): Good evening, we begin tonight with an NBC exclusive, the doctor who attested unequivocally that “Donald Trump will be the healthiest person ever elected president” is telling us how that letter came to be. It was written last December by Trump's personal physician, and while painting Trump's health in glowing terms, it fell well short of the full medical history Trump had promised. The medical paper trail of both candidates has been of growing interest lately, mostly fueled by rumors and theories about Hillary Clinton's health. NBC's Hallie Jackson has details.
HALLIE JACKSON: Tonight a remarkable revelation, the only documentation of Donald Trump's medical history was written in five minutes, his doctor says.
DR. HAROLD BORNSTEIN: Well I thought about it all day and at the end, I get rushed and I get anxious when I get rushed. So, I tried to get four or five lines done as fast as possible, so they would be happy.
JACKSON: Dr. Harold Bornstein, who says he examines Trump every May, remembering that December day when a black car from the Trump team waited outside his Park Avenue office.
BORNSTEIN: “In five minutes,” they said “we're going to get this desk and write that letter while the driver waited.”
JACKSON: Five minutes, four paragraphs, filled with adjectives that Trump himself might use. “Astonishingly excellent.” “Extraordinary.” Bornestein describing his patient as “the healthiest individual ever elected.” No time, he says, to proofread, the letter beginning “to whom my concern.”
BORNSTEIN: In the rush, I think some of those words didn't come out exactly the way they were meant.
JACKSON: Trump would be the oldest president ever elected. He enjoys fast food.
TRUMP: I had the other night, I had Kentucky Fried Chicken, not the worst thing in the world.
JACKSON: But beyond the letter, Trump hasn't shared anymore details about his medical status. Bornstein's not concerned.
BORNSTEIN: His health is excellent, particularly his mental health -- he thinks he is the best, which works out just fine. ... I think he would be fit because I think that his brain is turne don 24 hours a day.
JACKSON: The doctor, board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine, a graduate of Tufts Medical School, now affiliated with Lenox Hill Hospital. Trump's doctor for three decades, the candidate's picture, hanging in his office.
[...]
Bornstein says he's never treated Trump for any illness, much less any serious illness. The candidate's campaign tells us late tonight the doctor has been Trump's physician for decades and is already familiar with his, quote, “excellent health records.”
