The White House has acknowledged that President Donald Trump is being treated with a prescription topical cream for a skin irritation visible on the right side of his neck, according to a statement from the president's physician.
White House Doctor Sean Barbabella said the treatment is preventative and prescribed by the White House medical team. The physician indicated the course of the topical therapy will continue for one week, and that the skin redness already visible could persist for a few weeks after treatment begins.
The statement did not include further information about the precise medication used or the medical diagnosis it is intended to address. Aside from the one-week duration for the prescribed cream and the expectation that redness may last longer, the physician offered no additional clinical details.
Photographs published following a Medal of Honor presentation captured the president, 79, with a noticeable patch of red skin behind his ear and along the right side of his neck. The appearance of the irritation prompted the physician's statement clarifying that a preventative prescription regimen is in place.
The limited disclosure from the White House physician leaves several questions unanswered about the nature and cause of the irritation. The statement confined itself to the treatment's purpose - preventative - its short planned duration, and the possibility of lingering redness, without elaborating on whether other evaluations or follow-up care are planned.
Given the brief medical update, the available facts remain narrowly focused: a prescribed topical cream applied to the right side of the president's neck, a treatment window of one week, and an expectation that visible redness could persist for a few weeks. No additional medical findings, test results, or diagnostic conclusions were released in the statement.
Context note: The physician's statement followed public photographs from a formal ceremony where the president was shown with a red patch of skin behind his ear.