Questions about Donald Trump’s health are back in the spotlight after photographers captured a bright red rash spreading across the side of his neck during a White House ceremony this week, prompting skepticism from several medical experts.
The rash appeared on Monday as Trump attended a Medal of Honor ceremony in Washington, D.C. Soon after photos circulated online, the White House released a statement from physician Sean Patrick Barbabella offering a simple explanation.
“President Trump is using a very common cream on the right side of his neck, which is a preventative skin treatment, prescribed by the White House Doctor,” Barbabella said. “The President is using this treatment for one week, and the redness is expected to last for a few weeks.”
But some physicians say the explanation raises more questions than answers.
Dr. Vin Gupta, a medical analyst for MS NOW and former chief medical officer at Amazon, suggested the rash could potentially be linked to a precancerous skin condition.
“The White House medical team didn’t know [Trump] got a CT scan. They claimed it was a MRI for weeks,” Gupta wrote, referencing confusion last year about a medical scan Trump disclosed in October 2025.
Gupta argued the administration’s handling of the rash echoes past concerns about transparency.
“Now instead of acknowledging he might have a pre-cancerous skin condition, they dance around the issue,” Gupta wrote. “Trying to fool the public just makes it worse.”
Cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner also questioned the wording of the official statement.
“The hint that this statement might not have actually been written by Dr Barbabella is that in it, he says that the medication was ‘prescribed by the White House Doctor’. He’s the WH Doctor,” Reiner wrote.
Reiner added that preventative skin treatments are commonly used for patients with precancerous lesions, though he stressed that the public still lacks key details.
“We don’t know what specific treatment the president is receiving, but why all the secrecy for something that is potentially easy to treat and very common in older people?” he wrote.
The White House has not provided additional details about Trump’s condition.
