Overview
- New video from a ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace shows the 79-year-old president closing his eyes during remarks by Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the DRC’s Félix Tshisekedi.
- The episode follows footage from this week’s lengthy White House Cabinet meeting in which Trump appeared to nod off at times as officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, spoke.
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected claims that Trump slept, saying he was listening attentively and running the meeting, and Trump told reporters he had recently “aced” a cognitive test.
- The White House points to October MRI scans and cardiovascular and abdominal checks at Walter Reed as normal, including a “perfectly normal” heart, with no new details addressing sustained alertness.
- Democrats cite the repeated episodes to press for oversight, while allies and conservative commentators defend the president’s stamina, and figures like Jimmy Kimmel and Gavin Newsom mock the incidents.