White House denies report Trump got access to experimental weight loss drug
The White House strongly denied reports suggesting that President Donald Trump was the recipient of an unreleased weight-loss drug through a compassionate use program at Eli Lilly. The reports claimed a senior NIH official applied for the drug, retatrutide, for a “well-connected” individual with obesity-related health issues, fueling speculation it was Trump. White House spokesperson Kush desai emphasized that the application was not for Trump.
Retatrutide, an experimental drug shown in clinical trials to significantly reduce body weight, has not yet been approved by the FDA, which has warned against unapproved use of similar drugs. Trump,who in his recent medical exam weighed 238 pounds and has joked about GLP-1 weight-loss drugs,has never taken such medication but indicated he probably should.Eli Lilly stated they do not comment on individual cases and that in rare instances,they may provide investigational drugs to patients outside trials following regulations. The article also covers related recent news and political commentary surrounding Trump and ongoing developments in weight-loss treatments.
The White House issued a stark rebuke on Tuesday evening of a report suggesting that President Donald Trump could be the one “well-connected,” 79-year-old man who requested an unreleased weight loss drug from the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai put out a statement denying that the single approval of Eli Lilly’s highly anticipated weight-loss drug retatrutide was for Trump, after STAT news reported that the company granted a “compassionate use” approval of the drug to one person.
Recommended Stories
“Because this has to be spelled out for @LizzyLaw_, who has proven herself to be an unserious gossip columnist, this application was not for the President,” Desai wrote, tagging in STAT reporter Lizzy Lawrence.
The report detailed that a senior official at the National Institutes of Health submitted an application in April to treat a “well-connected,” per the report, patient with refractory obesity, who also had sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, with the Food and Drug Administration giving the go-ahead on the application.
“Sources told STAT that application drew interest from top health officials. Given the demographics and the peculiar nature of the application, I asked the WH if this patient was President Trump, who turned 80 a week ago. I did not get a direct answer,” Lawrence wrote on X.
The FDA has not yet approved retatrutide, Eli Lilly’s experimental drug, which has been shown to reduce body weight to levels similar to those achieved with gastric bypass surgery, and has publicly warned against the use of unapproved compounded GLP-1 drugs. The drug, which may help users maintain muscle mass better than other GLP-1s, has sparked buzz online and anticipation among people awaiting its possible FDA approval.
In his latest May 2026 physical, Trump, who stands at 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighed 238 pounds, making his body mass index around 29.7, which is in the overweight category and under the 30 BMI threshold for obesity. Trump has often joked about GLP-1s, calling in “the fat drug,” just as recently as Tuesday.
Trump told the New York Times in January that he has never taken a GLP-1 himself but that he “probably should.”
NEW ELI LILLY WEIGHT LOSS DRUG HAS DRAMATIC EFFECTS IN CLINICAL TRIAL
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly told the Washington Examiner that they “do not comment on the specifics of individual cases.”
“Lilly’s expanded access policy is available on our website,” the Eli Lilly spokesperson said, pointing to their expanded or compassionate use webpage. “In rare situations, when individuals can’t join a clinical trial and have run out of treatment options, Lilly may provide an investigational medicine in coordination with a requesting physician. We make these decisions following all applicable regulations.”
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
