“Lost 25 pounds and grew one inch”: No one’s buying Trump’s self-reported 215-pound weight

Former President Donald Trump’s self-reported height and weight during his surrender to authorities in Georgia Thursday quickly sparked questions of their validity. The quadruple indictee listed his height as 6-foot-3 and weight as 215 pounds while being booked at the Fulton County Jail, digits that varied vastly from his previously reported numbers. During Trump’s Manhattan arraignment earlier this year, he told police he stood at 6-foot-2 and weighed 240 pounds. The difference between the measurements would mean he “lost 25 pounds and grew one inch since his arraignment in April,” noted Mediate’s Aidan McLaughlin.

The self-reported figures also butt up against his last recorded weight during his presidency, according to The Messenger. The White House physician in 2019 listed his weight as 243 pounds, which was up by four pounds from his 2018 measurement. The outlet noted that Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff who is two inches shorter than the former president, reported his weight at 240 pounds during his surrender, which would make him nearly 25 pounds heavier than Trump. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes noted that Trump’s self-reported measurements are identical to speedy star NFL quarterback Lamar Jackson.

CNN panelists discussed Trump’s weight with incredulity Thursday night as the anchors wondered how the jail and the former president arrived at that number. “So, he’s lost 25 pounds since he was president, is what we are understanding,” host Jake Tapper said, “because he was, I believe, Dr. Ronny Jackson said he weighed something like 242 for his official physical, which people at the time were skeptical of that number.” Fellow anchor Dana Bash noted that “it doesn’t look like they put him on the scale.” The panelists also questioned Trump’s self-reported hair color — “blond or strawberry” — with Tapper asking, “How does ‘strawberry’ end up on a questionnaire?”