The Mysterious Case of Trump's 1960s Bone Spurs: A Medical Exemption That Echoes Through History

Decades before he entered the White House, a pivotal medical diagnosis dramatically altered the course of Donald Trump's life, sparking debates that continue to this day. In the tumultuous late 1960s, as the Vietnam War escalated and young American men faced conscription, Trump received a 4-F medical exemption from the draft, citing bone spurs in his heels.

This diagnosis, which conveniently emerged in 1968 following four student deferments, spared Trump from active military service during a deeply divisive conflict.

At the time, millions of young men were being drafted, many sacrificing their lives, while others sought various means to avoid the front lines. Trump’s exemption, therefore, immediately drew scrutiny, particularly given the timing and the circumstances surrounding its acquisition.

The controversy deepened with revelations concerning the podiatrist who made the diagnosis, Dr.

Larry Braunstein. It emerged that Braunstein’s father was a tenant of Fred Trump Sr., Donald Trump’s powerful real estate developer father, in a building located in Queens, New York. This familial connection immediately raised eyebrows, leading many to question whether the diagnosis was a legitimate medical assessment or a strategic favor extended through his father’s influence.

While the Trump family has consistently maintained that the bone spurs were a genuine and debilitating condition, the implications of the diagnosis have long cast a shadow.

Critics point to the curious timing and the convenient link to a medical professional with ties to the Trump family business empire as evidence of a calculated move rather than a mere stroke of bad luck. Donald Trump himself has often described the condition as "minor" and "temporary," yet sufficiently serious to warrant a medical exemption from military service, a seemingly contradictory stance that only fuels further speculation.

The bone spurs, located in both heels, were reportedly treated with conservative measures, not surgery, allowing Trump to continue his athletic pursuits, including squash and tennis.

This apparent ability to engage in vigorous physical activity while simultaneously being medically unfit for military duty has been a point of contention for decades, becoming a significant part of his public narrative and political identity.

Even years later, the details surrounding the diagnosis remained murky.

In 2016, Trump's personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, claimed he wrote a letter confirming the diagnosis. However, Bornstein later admitted to journalists that Trump himself had dictated the highly complimentary and somewhat exaggerated letter about his health. The true nature of the bone spurs, their severity, and the precise medical evaluation that led to his exemption continue to be subjects of intense public interest and historical debate, forever intertwining with the story of Donald Trump’s rise to power.