Overview
- New footage from a U.S. Institute of Peace ceremony shows the 79-year-old president repeatedly closing his eyes while Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the DRC’s Félix Tshisekedi delivered remarks.
- The clip follows televised Cabinet-room video earlier in the week in which Trump appeared to close his eyes for stretches during a lengthy meeting.
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was not sleeping and described him as listening attentively and running the meeting.
- The White House has confirmed preventative cardiovascular and abdominal checks as part of an MRI in October, a characterization some medical commentators, including Dr. Jonathan Reiner, called implausible as routine screening.
- Pro-Trump voices, including Fox News analyst Dr. Marc Siegel, framed brief naps as harmless and even beneficial, while critics and comedians such as Jimmy Kimmel highlighted the contrast with Trump’s past attacks on Joe Biden’s stamina.