Former President Donald Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham revealed in her new book “I’ll Take Your Questions Now” that Trump underwent a colonoscopy procedure in 2019 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as per the Independent. She described the colonoscopy as a “very common procedure,” adding that a “patient is sometimes put under.” The real estate mogul opted out of the anaesthesia — although it would have made the experience more comfortable — because he allegedly didn’t want to have to temporarily sign his power as president over to then-Vice President Mike Pence. According to CNN, a temporary transition of power is customary in situations in which a United States president must undergo anaesthesia during surgery, as outlined in the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution.
While not wanting to sign over power to Pence was the reason Trump didn’t want to be put under for his colonoscopy, the reason he didn’t want the public knowing about his trip to Walter Reed was allegedly to avoid being “the butt of a joke” for TV comedians, according to Grisham. She was open about her opinions about Trump’s actions. “[A]s with COVID, he was too wrapped up in his own ego and his own delusions about his invincibility,” She wrote in her book. Trump denied Grisham’s claims, stating that she was “paid by a radical left-leaning publisher to say bad and untrue things.”