By Lauren Dezenski, Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will undergo a physical exam on Friday following mounting questions about his health prompted by noticeable bruising and swelling in recent months.

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“On Friday morning, President Trump will visit Walter Reed Medical Center for a planned meeting and remarks with the troops. While there, President Trump will stop by for his routine yearly check up,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday. “President Trump is considering going to the Middle East shortly thereafter.”

While the White House described the visit as his regular yearly physical, the 79-year-old president had an annual exam just six months ago, on April 11.

Since then, Trump has been spotted with swollen ankles and a persistent bruise on his right hand. The White House said in July that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, but physicians had otherwise found the president to be in “excellent health.”

Trump’s ankle swelling, his doctor said, is related to the vein disease, which occurs when damaged valves inside the veins struggle to keep blood flowing from the legs back to the heart. Leavitt previously called it a “common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.” The disorder affects about one in 20 adults, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

A subsequent memo from White House physician Sean Barbabella said doctors found “no evidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or arterial disease” and that “no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness were identified.”

The White House also said the bruising on Trump’s hand, which has remained visible for months, was “minor soft tissue irritation from frequent hand-shaking” and a side effect of aspirin therapy, which the president takes as part of a cardiovascular prevention routine.

Trump in January was the oldest president ever sworn into office. He himself has boasted of being in good health, telling Newsmax in a Monday interview: “I feel the same or better than I did 30 years ago.”

His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, dropped out of the 2024 election amid questions about his acuity, and Trump in his first term was reticent to disclose when he underwent medical evaluations.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A proposal to open a retail cannabis business in the Joseph’s restaurant space in Oak Park Heights will be heard by the city’s planning commission on Thursday night.

The business, which would be located at 14608 60th St. N., would be known as Mango Cannabis, according to a staff memo.

“The retail dispensary will be in the Joseph’s restaurant space, where it is proposed to occupy the entire building,” the staff memo states. “It is expected that the restaurant will move to a different location in the area.”

Joseph’s owner Sam Leon did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The application for a conditional-use permit to operate the business was submitted by Kevin Pattah, of ABJKM Holdings, and Boundary Waters Capital.

The property is zoned B-2 General Business District, and cannabis retailers are allowed as a conditional use in the B-2 General Business District, according to the memo.

Boundary Waters Capital has received preapproval from the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management for a microbusiness license, which allows for both growing and sales of cannabis products.

“The B-2 District only allows for a cannabis retailer and no growing operations,” the staff memo states. “A condition will be placed limiting the allowed use.”

The planning commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Oak Park Heights City Hall.

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Public pressure for a special session on gun control is mounting — the latest lobbying effort coming from nearly three dozen clergy members who gathered Wednesday at the state Capitol, imploring Gov. Tim Walz to make the call.

The clergy members’ plea follows similar pleas from Annunciation Catholic Church and School parents and doctors who cared for victims of the deadly shooting on Aug. 27 in Minneapolis.

Clergy members also delivered a letter to Walz’s office asking him to immediately call a special legislative session to pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Organizers said the letter was signed by 750 faith leaders across 60 counties.

Melissa Pohlman, a pastor at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis, said she was at the Capitol praying because “prayer moves us to action.”

Pohlman said that when she pulled out her suit for the event, she remembered the last time she had worn it was for the funeral of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were slain on June 14 in their suburban Minneapolis home. Vance Boelter, 57, is facing state and federal murder charges.

“That’s not OK. This isn’t what I should have to pull my suit out for every time. None of us are immune to gun violence, so today, we call on our elected officials to join us in making real change,” she said.

Melissa Pohlman, pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, calls on Minnesota leaders to pass gun reform on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, at the state Capitol in St. Paul. Mary Murphy / Forum News Service

At an unrelated Capitol news conference where he got flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, Walz said “nothing has changed” and that it’s “hard to tell” how likely it is that a special session will happen.

“I need to get an agreement on this. If we’re going to hold a special session on safety of our children and safety of our streets … we need to talk about guns,” he said. “If the folks who hold veto power over this — which they do because of the (narrowly divided partisan) makeup of the Legislature — if they say, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ calling a special session is going to be a waste of money and a waste of time.”

Walz has previously indicated a desire to call a special session even if no agreement had emerged.

“I feel a sense of urgency, I think Minnesotans feel a sense of urgency,” he said on Sept. 9. “The public is asking us to do something. … I will call the special session one way or another.”

On Wednesday, Walz said that it’s standard practice to go into a special session with a plan for the scope of bills the Legislature will take up, and that Republicans have not conceded to putting firearms restrictions on the agenda; rather, the caucus prefers a focus on school security and mental health resources. But he said he doesn’t need Republicans to agree with an assault weapons ban, just for them to agree to vote on it.

“I don’t know how many times I can stress it. If you believe getting rid of those weapons is a bad idea, then you should be proudly on the board upstairs, voting ‘no,’ ” he said.

The Rev. Laura Laughlin with the Crown of Glory Church in Chaska said she remains hopeful despite the gridlock.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have hope in our leadership, and I think to not have hope means that we’ve lost all direction,” she said.

The Wednesday gathering was part of a “Seven Days of Prayer and Action” initiative. Through Oct. 14, congregations plan to lead public prayer at noon each day at the Capitol. This Saturday, prayer will be held virtually to allow for statewide participation, organizers said.

More Annunciation victims

Meanwhile Wednesday, law enforcement updated the victim count from the Annunciation shooting from 23 to 30.

Minneapolis police said in a statement that investigators have learned of victims who were brought to hospitals privately, and many had wounds from shrapnel that were discovered later.

One of the 30 victims, a child, suffered injuries that were not from gunfire; 29 others — 26 children and three adults — were injured as the result of gunfire. Two of the children died, 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel. The assailant died by suicide.

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By DAMIAN J. TROISE

NEW YORK (AP) — A resurgence of meme stock interest has prompted the return of a one-stop fund for the volatile and quirky investments.

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Roundhill Investments is launching a meme ETF, which is an exchange-traded fund consisting solely of meme stocks. Several of those stocks have ridden a wave of meme investment sentiment this year. The move comes two years after the provider of ETFs closed the fund because of slumping interest. The new fund trades under the “MEME” symbol.

Investors have been sporadically turning to meme stocks throughout 2025 in an effort to find bargains amid a very pricey stock market. The S&P 500 has had a busy year setting records. That has made it more difficult for investors to find stocks at lower prices that have potential for growth.

“Meme stocks started as a rebellion but have grown into a revolution,” said Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments. “With MEME, we offer investors a tool to capture that power through an actively managed ETF that can rotate quickly into the stocks dominating the conversation today.”

The biggest weight in the ETF is Opendoor Technologies, which has had a volatile year. The real estate company’s stock was trading below $1 per share through early July, then surged above $3 that month as hedge fund manager Eric Jackson touted the stock on X. It fell back a bit, then gained more steam and closed above $9 on Tuesday.

Other heavyweights in the index include Plug Power, which focuses on hydrogen fuel cell technology, and data center company Applied Digital.

Meme stocks include companies with financial prospects that appear dim, but then gain ground for no seemingly fundamental reason. The stock gains are often fueled by online forums.

The stocks are often the target of “short sellers,” or investors betting against the stock. That sometimes prompts other investors to start buying the stock in an effort to get the people betting against the stock to do the same in order to cushion their own losses. This starts a cycle that further boosts the stock price.

It’s a risky strategy and the gains can evaporate as quickly as they came.

FILE – An assortment of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Decatur, Ala., are displayed on Jan. 19, 2016. (John Godbey/The Decatur Daily via AP, File)

Some of the more well-known meme stocks making big moves earlier this year included doughnut maker Krispy Kreme, camera maker GoPro and plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat.

FILE – Pedestrians pass a GameStop store on 14th Street at Union Square, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The original meme stock is GameStop. In 2021, the company was struggling to survive and major investors were betting against the video game retailer. Investor Keith Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty,” rallied other investors to join him in buying up thousands of GameStop shares, changing the trajectory of the stock.