ToplineThe White House aggressively denied inquiries questioning whether President Donald Trump received exclusive access to an Eli Lilly weight loss drug, shooting down rampant speculation after STAT News reported a request for drug access was made in April for a 79-year-old man. US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after stepping off Air Force One at Reading Regional Airport on June 23, 2026.Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsEli Lilly and the Food and Drug Administration allowed a person to have access to the drug through the latter’s “compassionate use” program, according to STAT, which allows patients access to experimental treatments if they have immediately life-threatening medical issues.Noting the age of the person lined up with Trump’s when the request for the drug was made, STAT asked the White House if the patient was Trump, who turned 80 this month.White House spokesperson Kush Desai, who directed STAT’s question to the Health and Human Services Department, blasted STAT on X on Tuesday morning, after the story was published, and denied the application was for Trump.STAT said it inquired with the White House, the HHS and the FDA whether the application was for Trump and received no direct answers.White House communications director Steven Cheung called the STAT reporter a “big idiot” in an X post.STAT, which said early in its report it does not know who the patient is, cited unnamed sources who said the drug request “drew the interest of top health officials.”TangentRanganath Muniyappa, a senior clinician at the National Institutes of Health, requested the drug to treat a patient for refractory obesity with obstructive sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension, STAT reported, noting it inquired whether Trump has those conditions. Pulmonary hypertension can be life-threatening. Desai referred STAT to a White House memo on Trump’s most recent medical evaluation that did not contain any mentions of obstructive sleep apnea or pulmonary hypertension.Big Number18. That is how many bioethics experts, obesity clinicians, and current and former government health officials STAT interviewed for its report, which noted the sources said the application was unusual and questioned why Eli Lilly would give drug access to a single patient for obesity under the compassionate use program. Compassionate use programs are often conducted through large groups of patients, STAT reported.Key BackgroundIf Trump was the patient in question, his access to the weight loss drug would not be unprecedented. The president was one of the first people to receive the experimental Regeneron COVID-19 treatment after he contracted the virus in 2020. Trump told The New York Times earlier this year he had not taken GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic but said, “I probably should.” Trump’s latest physical exam revealed the president weighed 238 pounds, a 14-pound increase from April 2025 that nearly reached the threshold of clinical obesity. Trump’s health has been under increased scrutiny as he turned 80 this year and has been frequently seen with swollen ankles and bruises on his hands. Further ReadingTrump Says His Physical Went ‘PERFECTLY’ Amid Speculation Over Bruised Hands And Swollen Legs (Forbes)