As Vietnam draft loomed, New York podiatrist diagnosed bone spurs in young Donald Trump as a favour to his father, doctor’s daughters say
- The daughters of Larry Braunstein told The New York Times their father provided the 1968 diagnosis that helped Donald Trump avoid the Vietnam war draft
- Braunstein was a tenant of Fred Trump at the time of the diagnosis
Daughters of a deceased podiatrist say it’s “family lore” that their father helped Donald Trump, long before he became president, avoid being drafted for military service in Vietnam, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The daughters of Larry Braunstein, Elysa Braunstein and Sharon Kessel, told The Times that their father – as a “favour” – provided the 1968 diagnosis of bone spurs that helped Trump get a medical exemption. In return, the doctor received access to Fred Trump, Trump’s father and owner of the Queens building in which Larry Braunstein’s practice operated.
“If there was anything wrong in the building, my dad would call and Trump would take care of it immediately. That was the small favour that he got,” Elysa Braunstein told the Times, referring to the president’s father.
The Times could not find documentation from the family, the doctor who bought Braunstein’s practice, or the National Archives to corroborate the daughters’ recollection. The White House did not respond to the Times’ requests to follow up.
Larry Braunstein died in 2007.