Trump's ex-doctor Harold Bornstein dies at 73: Here's everything he revealed about twice-impeached president
Dr. Harold Bornstein, the doctor who served as Donald Trump's former personal physician for more than three decades, has died at the age of 73. Bornstein's death was announced on Thursday, January 15, in a paid notice in The New York Times. The notice did not give a cause or say where he died but said he passed away last Friday, January 8.
"A devoted husband and loving father, Dr. Bornstein is survived by his wife, Melissa (Brown), his daughter, Alix, and sons, Robyn Bornstein M.D., Joseph Bornstein M.D., Jeremee, and Jackson," the Times obituary said. "Due to the ongoing pandemic, there will be a private service for family and friends."
Bornstein was born on March 3, 1947, in New York City to Dr. Jacob and Maida Bornstein. From an early age, he wanted to be a doctor, like his father. In high school, he played in a band called Doc Bornstein and the Interns. Bornstein went to Tufts University, graduating in 1968. He got his medical degree at Tufts as well, in 1975. Bornstein eventually joined his father at his practice in Manhattan and was on staff at Lenox Hill Hospital, also on the Upper East Side. He had inherited Trump as a patient from his father and was Trump’s personal physician from 1980 to 2017.
Bornstein was let go as Trump's physician after he aggravated the president when he admitted to the Times in 2017 that he'd prescribed Propecia to help with hair loss, as well as antibiotics for rosacea -- a condition that causes redness and often small, red, pus-filled bumps on the face -- and a statin for cholesterol. "I couldn't believe anybody was making a big deal out of a drug to grow his hair that seemed to be so important. And it certainly was not a breach of medical trust to tell somebody they take Propecia to grow their hair. What's the matter with that?" Bornstein told NBC News in 2018.
He also told NBC News that two days after the Times article appeared, three representatives of Trump had “raided” his office and taken all of Trump’s medical records. They also allegedly told him to remove a picture he had on the wall of him with Trump. Bornstein said of this experience: “I feel raped.” White House officials, however, said that no raid had occurred, that the men had retrieved the president’s medical records as “standard operating procedure,” and that Bornstein had been cooperative.
Bornstein, on the other hand, said he felt that he was being punished, adding that Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime executive assistant and senior vice president of the Trump Organization, had called him after the article appeared and told him, “So you wanted to be the White House doctor? Forget it, you’re out.”
Bornstein’s biggest reveal
In December 2015, the doctor released a statement declaring that Trump, if elected, would "be the healthiest" president ever. "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” he wrote, adding, "Mr. Trump has suffered no form of cancer, has never had a hip, knee or shoulder replacement or any other orthopedic surgery." The doctor further said that Trump's only surgery was an appendectomy at ten years old. "His cardiovascular status is excellent. He has no history of ever using alcohol or tobacco products."
Bornstein wrote that Trump has lost at least 15 pounds in the past year and that his blood pressure and lab results were "astonishingly excellent." Following that, Trump said in a statement, mistakenly referring to Bornstein's father: "I am proud to share this report, written by the highly respected Dr. Jacob Bornstein of Lenox Hill Hospital, stating that I am in excellent health.”
But this bill of good health may not have been all that it seemed. Bornstein finally said publicly in 2018 that Trump himself was responsible for the letter saying he would be the healthiest president ever. “He dictated that whole letter,” he told CNN. “I didn’t write that letter.”
"That's black humor, that letter. That's my sense of humor," he said. "It's like the movie 'Fargo': It takes the truth and moves it in a different direction." He also said that Trump read out the language as Bornstein and his wife were driving across Central Park. "(Trump) dictated the letter and I would tell him what he couldn't put in there," he said. "They came to pick up their letter at 4 o'clock or something."