Copyright Star Tribune
President Donald Trump hosted one of the more attention-grabbing press events of his term in the Oval Office this week, announcing price cuts for weight-loss drugs, only to be interrupted when one of the attendees collapsed in a faint. Before that dramatic turn of events, however, Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake as his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and two other deputies took turns explaining the announcement. Clips of the scene have circulated widely on social media and drawn heavy criticism from Democrats. A Washington Post analysis of multiple videofeeds found that Trump spent nearly 20 minutes apparently battling to keep his eyes open at the Thursday event. It was a seemingly stark illustration of the strain of the presidency on a 79-year-old who typically keeps a vigorous travel schedule that even his aides say they struggle to keep up with — and who has reveled in calling his predecessor “Sleepy Joe” Biden. Sitting behind the Resolute Desk on Thursday, the president displayed a constellation of movements familiar to anyone who has attempted to stay awake during a work meeting. He closed his eyes. He put his hand to his temple. He slouched in his chair. The gathering came to an abrupt halt with the sudden collapse of an attendee, an Eli Lilly patient who was standing behind the president. It resumed about an hour later, with Trump noticeably perkier — but still caught on camera at moments with his eyes closed. “The President was not sleeping; in fact, he spoke throughout and took many questions from the press during this announcement which represents a historic reduction in prices for Americans on two drugs that help Americans struggling with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other conditions,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement. Democrats, and particularly veterans of Biden’s administration, said they were frustrated to see the president seemingly fight to stay awake after he dubbed his predecessor “Sleepy Joe” and routinely mocked his energy levels. Biden, the oldest U.S. president in history who left office at age 82, faced regular scrutiny for his stamina, such as when he appeared to doze off at a roundtable in Angola last December. Questions about Biden’s fitness for the presidency also helped end his reelection bid in 2024. “The national media would have had multiple strokes if Joe Biden was sleeping/passed out in his chair in the Oval Office,” Neera Tanden, who served as Biden’s top domestic policy aide, posted on social media. White House officials have bristled at any comparisons to Biden, pointing to Trump’s far more frequent exchanges with reporters and his regular schedule of public events. Trump typically takes questions multiple times a week, while Biden rarely did. They also have regularly praised the 79-year-old’s energy, with aides saying that they struggle to keep up with Trump’s round-the-clock phone calls and demands. “I was getting calls at 11:30, 12:00 at night. ‘Oh, are you asleep?’” Kennedy said at an Oval Office event in September, reminiscing about Trump’s late-night push to lower drug prices. “At one point, Dr. [Mehmet] Oz told me, I can’t take the president’s calls anymore. … I say I don’t get anxiety; this gave me anxiety.” The president recently completed a period of whirlwind travel, returning from an extended trip to Asia on Oct. 30 before flying to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida the next day and back to Washington on Sunday. Trump also flew to Miami on Wednesday to speak at a business-focused conference before returning to Washington. And he flew back to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend on Friday. All the while, Trump has continued to mock “Sleepy Joe.” He used the nickname Wednesday in Miami as he compared their efforts to secure foreign investments in the U.S. economy; again on Thursday evening, when he hosted Central Asian leaders for dinner at the White House; and minutes after he was caught on camera struggling to keep his own eyes open in the Oval Office. “He wasn’t in charge. The people around the desk were in charge,” Trump told reporters at the drug-price event, jibing at “Sleepy Joe Biden” yet again. Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune U.S. airlines again canceled more than 1,000 flights on Saturday, the second day of the Federal Aviation Administration's mandate to reduce air traffic because of the government shutdown.
