Donald Trump has hinted former White House staff could be investigated over the timing of Joe Biden's shock cancer diagnosis.
The Republican president, 78, has questioned how medical professionals failed to diagnose his Democratic predecessor, 82, until after he had left office in January.
Mr Trump also suggested that at least one doctor had previously claimed Mr Biden was "cognitively fine" — something he claims later turned out to be "not so".
On Sunday, Mr Biden’s office announced that the former president has an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer which has metastasised to the bone.
The disease is assigned a Gleason score, which indicates how quickly the cancer is likely to grow and spread.
Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 19, 2025
Mr Biden's team reported his score was nine out of 10, suggesting a highly aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Asked about Mr Biden’s diagnosis on Monday, Mr Trump expressed scepticism that the cancer would not have been detected during the president’s annual physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland.
He told reporters inside the Oval Office: “I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine, that’s a long time.
“Why did it take so long? I mean... this takes a long time, can take years to get to this level of danger.
"I think people should try and find out what happened... Maybe it was the same doctor and somebody is not telling the facts.”
Mr Trump added that he recently had a "very complete" physical test, which he claimed to have “aced”.
Mr Biden ran against Mr Trump in the 2024 presidential election before dramatically withdrawing from the race in July amid concerns about his cognitive decline.
His decision to step back from the contest followed a series of public gaffes, including referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin" during a NATO summit in Washington.
He was replaced as the Democratic candidate by his vice-president Kamala Harris, who lost the election to Mr Trump in November.
Mr Biden’s last physical exam at Walter Reed took place in February last year and was overseen by his personal physician, Dr Kevin O’Connor, who declared the then-president “fit for duty”.
