President Donald Trump’s face appeared especially orange during a press gaggle with artificial intelligence leaders.
Trump’s orange hue was photographed as he addressed the press on the White House’s North Lawn after a summit with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and the heads of Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
“I’ve never done this before,” Trump said Tuesday, motioning his accordion hands. “I’ve never done this location.”
The 80-year-old, who looked like he had just applied a coat of face bronzer, stuck out among all the other men in the group.
More makeup was visible on the president’s often-bruised right hand. But this product matched his hair more than his face.
At the A.I. meeting in the East Room earlier that afternoon, Trump sat between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Musk. Photos show he appeared much less orange indoors. Official White House social media posts included only photos of the president indoors, where his distinct orange hue was not as noticeable.
Trump often has bruising on his right hand. The White House has attributed this to frequent handshaking and his aspirin use, which has been a higher-than-recommended dosage—325 milligrams daily—for the last 25 years.
“I’m a little superstitious,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in January. “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
His hand makeup takes “about 10 seconds” to apply, he added.
Reached for comment, the White House told the Daily Beast: “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.”
As for the substance of the gaggle, Trump reiterated his attempts at changing the name of artificial intelligence to “super intelligence,” or “S.I.” The rebanding effort comes as Americans have shown broad concerns about the technology.
Trump said that what he and those gathered around him had signed, the White House Accord on Superintelligence Joint Commitment on Frontier SI Responsibilities, would be “morally binding.”
He was then asked about bad actors using A.I.
“Well, I tell you, a good actor can do tremendous in terms of medical—it’s already taking place. They are finding solutions to problems that they never thought even possible, and they are coming up with medical solutions that are incredible. A lot of other things very positive,” he said.
“A bad actor’s going to get caught, and that’s why we have the DOJ, that’s why we have FBI, that’s why we have the CIA,” he went on. “A bad actor’s going to get caught.”
He added, “There’s going to be a tremendous self-policing aspect.”
