President Donald Trump walked into Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting eager to tout his cognitive brilliance — and walked out with the internet wondering if he could even stay conscious.
Before anyone asked, Trump launched into a familiar victory lap about the “very hard” cognitive test he says he passed at Walter Reed. He even repeated the odd story he’d told reporters days earlier, when he said he wasn’t sure what doctors were scanning during an MRI before blurting out, “it wasn’t the brain.”
Then came the bragging: “I got every question right, and these are tough questions,” Trump told his Cabinet officials and reporters. “These are questions that, I would say, 99 percent of the people that I’m talking to right now, meaning the people that from the fake news, would not do well in those exams, but I’m the only one that took it.”
But the moment he stopped talking, the energy vanished. As his Cabinet members took over, Trump slouched back in his chair, eyelids sagging, head nodding like he was stuck between consciousness and a nap he couldn’t quite commit to. And social media didn’t miss a second.
“Is Donald Trump ok?” asked the Republicans Against Trump account. X user Lucas Sanders posted a photo that appeared to show Trump drifting off. “Here’s Donald Trump sleeping in another Cabinet meeting today!” he wrote. “Trump is ‘Commander in sleep.'”
Others chimed in with zero hesitation.
“Trump calls meetings so he can get some sleep,” Pat Stringfield wrote. “Most pathetic.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar added, “Trump’s face is becoming contorted as he desperately tries to cling to consciousness. He’s fighting it but Linda McMahon is putting Trump back to sleep.”
From Bluesky, Mosaics by Darcy didn’t sugarcoat it: “The guy cannot stay awake for the life of him. He’ll wake up for a second, say something incoherent, and then go back to sleep.”
Chris Lindley piled on: “Good lord. Rubio praises Trump as we the people watch the old dotard sleep. Unbelievable.”
And journalist Wajahat Ali summed up what many viewers were thinking: “Trump falls asleep again during a televised Cabinet meeting. The 79 year old cankled President isn’t well. Clear as day to anyone with eyes.”
For a president who spent the start of the meeting touting his mental sharpness, the visuals told a very different story — one of a leader fighting to keep his eyes open as the country’s business rolled on around him.
Watch the clip below:
