Topline
Democrats pressed the White House for answers this week after it denied a STAT News report suggesting President Donald Trump may have received access to an experimental weight loss drug under the Food and Drug Administration’s “compassionate use” program, which is often reserved for patients with life-threatening conditions.
Hassan sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said in a Wednesday letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that she was “deeply concerned” by reports that suggested he “may be bending the rules of a federal program, and exerting improper political pressure, in order to provide a well-connected individual with free access to an exclusive prescription drug.”
The report from Tuesday noted a 79-year-old man was given an Eli Lilly weight loss drug not yet approved by the FDA following a request made in April, when Trump was still 79 years old.
The White House aggressively denied the STAT News report, saying Trump was not the person who received the drug and calling the STAT reporter a “big idiot.”
Hassan said in her letter to Kennedy the report “suggests that this individual was the President or someone closely connected to him,” asking a series of questions including if the drug was given for free, if Trump received the drug and who at the Department of Health and Human Services provided approval for the drug.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., suggested Wednesday that Trump may have canceled a bill signing because he was feeling the side effects from the drug.
Lieu also suggested Trump may be suffering from a “terminal illness,” pointing to Cabinet and Oval Office meetings in which he has been recorded dozing off.
Chief Critic
White House communications director Steven Cheung called Lieu a “dumbass” in an X post, saying he “probably spent hours laughing to himself thinking that peddling this lie would be funny.”
Key Background
The STAT News report found Ranganath Muniyappa, a senior clinician at the National Institutes of Health, made a request for the drug to treat a patient with refractory obesity, obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, the latter of which can be life-threatening. Trump has dealt with multiple visible health conditions in recent months, often being seen with bruising on his hands that he has attributed to frequent handshaking and daily aspirin use. The president has also been seen with swollen ankles and was diagnosed last year with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common in people over 70. Trump weighed 238 pounds in his latest physical exam, marking a 14-pound increase from April 2025 that is nearly at the threshold of clinical obesity.
Further Reading
White House Aggressively Denies Trump Received Exclusive Weight Loss Drug Access (Forbes)
Trump Diagnosed With Common Chronic Vein Disease—White House Insists He Is In ‘Excellent Health’ (Forbes)