The image of Donald Trump slumping in his chair, eyes drooping during a two-hour Cabinet meeting, instantly collided with his insistence that he is in peak condition. As aides praised his leadership and he urged them to tout their achievements, cameras caught something harder to spin: a 79-year-old president who looked exhausted while the country watched. Social media did the rest, branding him “Commander in Sleep” and “Dozy Don,” turning a routine briefing into a referendum on his age, stamina, and honesty about his health.
The White House rushed to contain the damage, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisting he was alert, engaged, and merely listening. She pointed to his fiery closing remarks, where he lashed out at Somali migrants, Ilhan Omar, and critics of his immigration agenda, as proof of vigor. But another “sleep” clip joins a growing reel of uneasy moments. For supporters, it’s noise. For skeptics, it’s confirmation. And for a nation staring down another bruising election, it’s one more unsettling question about who is really awake at the wheel.
