President Trump took a break from the usual Oval Office agenda on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, to do something he rarely does: talk about working out. The 79-year-old commander in chief welcomed a group of athletes to the White House for the signing of a proclamation celebrating National Physical Fitness and Sports Month — and promptly used the moment to poke a little fun at his own gym habits.
Trump began the event by reading prepared remarks, then veered off-course just 30 seconds later, treating the room to an impromptu glimpse of his fitness philosophy. Spoiler: there isn’t much of one.
“It is indeed a beautiful day to celebrate America’s athletic traditions and champions in physical fitness and all of those things,” he said before going off-script.
Then came the punchline. “I work so hard on a personal basis. I work out so much—like about one minute a day max if I’m lucky,” he joked, drawing laughter from the room.
A Candid Look At The Routine
It’s no secret that Trump is no fan of exercise. According to his last physical, the president weighs in at 224 pounds and stands 6’3″. On New Year’s Day, he told a major newspaper that he isn’t interested in physical activities outside of his beloved golf.
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” he said of exercise. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”
That said, Trump’s aides told the same outlet that he had been getting up from his desk and walking around more often to ease the swelling in his ankles. The White House previously disclosed that Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition where leg veins struggle to push blood back up to the heart. The president has long suffered with swelling in his ankles, and the brief desk-side strolls appear to be helping.
To his credit, Trump does get some form of regular exercise. The president typically hits the links on the weekend — so often, in fact, that a website has been launched specifically to answer the question, “Did Trump golf today?” According to the tracker, the president has spent nearly a quarter of his term so far golfing.
Star-Studded Guest List In The Oval
The proclamation signing was attended by golf legend Gary Player and two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, whose physique clearly impressed the president. DeChambeau’s chiseled frame seemed to throw Trump off his prepared remarks more than once, and the president couldn’t stop heaping praise on the golfer’s build.
“He’s so much into physical fitness,” Trump said of DeChambeau. “All you have to do is take a look at him and you say, ‘Why is he even doing this?’ I think if you didn’t work out at all, you’d still look almost like you do right now.”
Trump, who was photographed alongside Colin Montgomerie back in 2012 during his pre-presidential golfing days, has spent decades around the sport’s biggest names. Tuesday’s event was another opportunity for the president to mingle with the kind of elite athletes whose dedication to training stands in stark contrast to his self-described one-minute-a-day regimen.
That Long-Running ‘Fat Shot’ Fascination
Trump later returned to the topic of DeChambeau’s build, joking that the player doesn’t need the “fat shot” — his preferred term for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.
“I said, ‘Did you ever take the shot?’ He didn’t know what I was talking about. ‘What shot?’ He can put it on. He is a scientist. A scientist with his body. A great guy and an absolute champion,” Trump said.
The president has a long-running preoccupation with weight-loss drugs. He has so far outed two people in his circle for using “fat drugs”: White House communications director Steven Cheung, and a still-unnamed billionaire pal.
In January, Trump admitted to another major outlet that he could probably use some of those shots himself. Asked whether he had ever used the popular drugs for diabetes and weight loss, Trump replied, “No, I have not. I probably should.”
A Lighthearted Moment In The West Wing
For an event ostensibly devoted to encouraging Americans to get moving, Tuesday’s proclamation signing offered a refreshingly honest portrait of a president who has made peace with his own preferences. Vice President Vance was not part of the Oval Office gathering, leaving Trump to handle host duties solo as he chatted with the assembled athletes.
Since being inaugurated on January 20, 2025, Trump has leaned into his weekend golf habit while keeping the treadmill at arm’s length. Whether health experts approve or not, the president seems perfectly content with his current arrangement: a few laps around the Resolute Desk, a Saturday tee time, and the occasional minute of “working out” — if he’s lucky.