President Donald Trump has been spotted with bruises on both of his hands, along with broken skin, as scrutiny about the state of his health mounts.
A photo taken by photographer Aaron Schwartz as Trump hosted NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office showed the president’s chronically bruised right hand slathered in a greasy layer of makeup, with the beige coating appearing stiff and rubbery as it settled into the creases of his skin.
His typically unblemished left hand also appeared to bear a dark purple bruise, haphazardly covered with the same beige makeup.
Meanwhile, one of the knuckles on the president’s left hand was marked by broken skin, the surface appearing cracked and lightly scabbed, giving his “good” hand a visibly unhealthy appearance.
The latest bruising on Trump’s hands comes after he sported concerning marks last week at the G7 summit in France, where he was first spotted with a crescent-shaped mark on his left hand, and later with a red puncture mark on his right thumb.
Several social media users speculated whether it was caused by a prick from a glucose test, which measures blood sugar levels.
When reached for comment on Wednesday, the White House continued to attribute the chronic bruise on Trump’s right hand to frequent handshaking.
“President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history. The President is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other President in history. President Trump’s commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast in a statement.
But the handshake explanation appears harder to square with the bruise on Trump’s left hand, which he is not known to use for handshakes. The White House did not comment on the bruising on his left hand on Wednesday.
The latest sighting of the president’s makeup-covered hand comes after White House reporters Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman revealed in their new book Regime Change that Trump’s longtime aide and personal valet, Walt Nauta, carries a go bag for the president to access whenever needed—filled with makeup, hairspray, Tic Tacs, a clothes steamer, and scissors so he can trim his own hair when it pokes over his collar.
After Trump, the oldest person to be inaugurated as president, underwent his annual physical and dental at the end of May, Trump’s personal physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, wrote in a memorandum that the president “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function.”
According to the memo, the roughly three-hour examination included an extensive laboratory evaluation, which found that the president’s glucose levels and cardiac biomarkers, among several others, were “within normal limits.”
Nevertheless, the president continues to face scrutiny over his physical and cognitive health. In addition to his bruises, he frequently appears with swollen ankles, which the White House says are caused by chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common in seniors where leg veins struggle to push blood back up to the heart. Regime Change revealed that the president is also struggling to hear.
Trump has also developed a tendency to fall asleep during high-level meetings, regularly makes mental gaffes, and his repetition has caused a leading psychiatrist to question his fitness for office.
