Donald Trump covered up the severe bruising on his hand with a thick layer of makeup as he stepped out for an event marking Black History Month.
The president, 79, smeared a thick, smudgy layer of beige makeup on the back of his right hand for Wednesday’s event, with photos showing his veins bulging through the mask.
His makeup of choice for Wednesday looked a touch less shiny than the gloss he wore for his speech to members of the military at the Fort Bragg Army base on Friday. He had sported another thick smear on Thursday as he struggled to keep his eyes open during an eight-minute-long speech from his Cabinet member, Lee Zeldin.
Trump, the oldest person to assume the presidency, tries to cover up his chronic bruising by wearing makeup nearly every day or by hiding his hands under tables.
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar noted on X that Trump’s discoloration on Wednesday was “as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”
“How many handshakes does that take?” an X user wrote, referencing the White House’s claim that the bruises come from frequent handshaking.
When reached for comment on the state of Trump’s hand on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sent the Daily Beast a recycled statement.
“President Trump 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. His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day,” Leavitt said.
The White House’s handshake defense lost credibility after the right-handed president’s left hand showed some of his most severe bruising during last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, along with the chronic bruise on his right. “I clipped them on a table,” he explained.
Trump has also attributed his bruising to his aspirin use. The president says he takes a higher dose of the drug than his doctor recommends because he doesn’t want “thick blood” running through his heart.
Throughout his second term, the Daily Beast has extensively reported on Trump’s declining health, as the president is seen frequently napping during Cabinet meetings, having mental slip-ups, slurring his words, and suffering from swollen ankles.
The White House revealed last year that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition where leg veins struggle to push blood back up to the heart.
