The president’s right hand was covered by a noticeable layer of foundation on Thursday as he repealed a landmark scientific precedent that regulated the country’s contributions to climate change.
President Donald Trump, 79, slathered a coat of ill-matched makeup on his often-bruised right hand when he rolled back a 2009 Environmental Protection Agency rule that classified carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a threat to public and environmental health.
The bright sheen of foundation stretched from his knuckles to just below his suit cuff, covering a spot that has often been marked by deep purple bruising. The president covered his hand the same way at his “Champion of Coal” event the day before.
When asked for comment about Trump’s makeup-covered hand at Thursday’s announcement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Beast in a 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.”
The president’s health has been in decline throughout his second administration, as the Daily Beast has reported on extensively.
From his numerous mental slip-ups to more physically visible ailments like his cankles, perhaps none have driven more buzz than Trump’s hand discoloration, which the president and Leavitt have often attributed to “frequent handshaking” and aspirin usage.
By the president’s own admission, his daily dosage of the anti-inflammatory drug is four times higher than what’s recommended by most doctors, and has supposedly been the same for 25 years.
The president, who has long referred to climate change as a “hoax,” was joined by Trump-appointed EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, 46, in the White House’s Roosevelt Room when he announced the “single largest deregulatory action in American history.”
“We are officially terminating the so-called ‘endangerment finding,’ a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers,” Trump said.
The president said the “radical” rule contributed to the “Green New Scam,” which he said was an “even greater” ruse than the “Russia Russia Russia hoax”—referring to the theory that Trump allegedly colluded with the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The endangerment finding was the basis for almost all American climate regulations under the Clean Air Act, which affects motor vehicles and other sources of pollution that warm the planet.
After Zeldin’s speech, the president appeared to nearly fall asleep while standing up. When Zeldin was finished, Trump returned to the podium, saying, “That was long.”
