President Donald Trump made sure to keep his cankles concealed on his way to address the nation about his Iran war.
As Trump, 79, approached the podium to give his surprise primetime update on the war he started just over a month ago, the elderly president’s lower half was conveniently shielded from view.
As the president gave his 18-minute and 39-second-long speech, which didn’t provide much new information regarding his war in the Middle East, Trump’s swollen cankles remained out of view.
Even after his speech concluded, the president did not walk off, preventing the American people from getting a glimpse at his swollen ankles.
Trump, as the White House has confirmed, suffers from chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that can cause swelling of the ankles.
The president’s cankles have appeared frequently throughout his second term in office, including at his last two Oval Office meetings with the Taoiseach of Ireland, Micheál Martin, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
The Daily Beast has comprehensively covered Trump’s laundry list of ailments throughout his second term, including his bruised hands, random neck rash, mental slip-ups, and public sleeping fits.
During his primetime address to Americans on Wednesday night, the president did not offer much of a significant update on the conflict, but did congratulate himself at length for his role in the “military action.”
Trump, the self-styled “Peace President,” did not confirm a timeframe for when the war would be over, but did say the U.S. was “nearing completion” of its “core objectives” and would be finished in the region “very shortly.”
The president said that the country he now governs was a “dead and crippled country” before his second term, congratulating himself on a batch of wild falsehoods and washing his hands of the mess he caused in the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the war began on Feb. 28, 13 American troops have died, and more than 200 have been wounded, according to U.S. military officials.
Six American service members were killed on March 1 when an Iranian retaliatory drone struck a mobile operations center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, and another six died after a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq.
Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz on March 2, spiking oil prices worldwide as its ship traffic has shrunken from an average of 60 ships per day to just 11, according to hormuzstraitmonitor.com.
Gas prices at home have risen in response, with the average price per gallon of gas skyrocketing to over $4 domestically for the first time since 2022.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
