Donald Trump’s hand has been spotted slathered with makeup in new photographs from an Oval Office event.
The president’s painted paw was on show as he handed out the newly minted Mexican Border Defense Medal to 13 service members for their role in implementing his anti-immigration crackdown.
Trump’s presentation featured all the hits. He told the awardees that “they made me look really good,” celebrated his own success in reducing rates of immigration, and took potshots at former President Joe Biden.
But his painful-looking right hand was a reminder that the 79-year-old president is not in such perfect health as White House officials claim. In Monday’s Oval Office ceremony, Trump appeared to be trying to cover it with his left hand during a photo with the troops.
Trump’s health has clearly been weighing on him, although he doesn’t like people talking about it.
Last week, he posted a furious Truth Social rant that lasted almost 500 words in a bid to prove to the American people he was fit to run the country.
“After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,’” he said.
That rant came as several outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, started to focus more attention on the president’s health, following in the footsteps of the Daily Beast, which has relentlessly asked the questions others preferred not to raise.
The White House claims it’s Trump’s vigorous handshake schedule that’s doing the damage. This month, Trump had opted to wear a bandage on his hand instead of his go-to option of a thick layer of glistening makeup, but he has since reverted to his old ways.
“As for the bandage on his hand, we’ve also given you an explanation for that in the past,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Beast on Thursday. “The president is literally constantly shaking hands. The Oval Office is like Grand Central Terminal. He is meeting with more people than any of you even know about on a daily basis. He’s also on a daily aspirin regimen, which is something his physical examinations has said in the past as well can contribute to that bruising that you see.”
Trump has also bragged repeatedly about having aced a series of cognitive tests, claiming they prove his mental acuity.
“In addition to the Medical [assessments], I have done something that no other President has done,” he said. “On three separate occasions, the last one being recently, by taking what is known as a Cognitive Examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at The New York Times, and I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know.”
He added, “I have been told that few people have been able to ‘ace’ this Examination and, in fact, most do very poorly, which is why many other Presidents have decided not to take it at all.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
