Donald Trump’s hands have triggered renewed fears regarding the state of the president’s health just days after he crowed about his “perfect” physical exam.
A photo taken while Trump spoke to reporters in Wisconsin on Friday was widely shared on social media due to the condition of his right hand. Though the back of the hand is regularly discolored, the news photo revealed a red, bluish, and even darker tinge, with bulging veins, and crinkling at the top of each of extra thickened, bulbous fingers.
“I’m not sure what’s happening here, but aspirin and too much hand-shaking ain’t it,” noted journalist Aaron Rupar, who posted the Getty photo on X.
Rupar later posted another photo of Trump’s hand as he talked to reporters aboard Air Force One that looked to be painfully swollen.
Trump’s hands have long been a target of speculation about his health. He has had a bruise on his right hand for almost a year, which he often haphazardly tries to hide with badly applied concealer, sometimes in markedly different shades. He has also begun slathering concealer on his left hand.
The White House initially insisted the bruising was from too much hand-shaking, even though it has appeared on both hands. “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,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle insisted yet again last month.
Officials have also claimed the bruising is the result of Trump’s high-dose aspirin regimen, which doctors have noted is most often recommended for people who have suffered a stroke.
In July 2025, the White House confirmed that Trump suffers from chronic venous insufficiency, which officials claim causes his noticeably swollen cankles.
Posters on social media not only noted Trump’s hands, but also his startling girth in a posted profile shot in Wisconsin, leading many to speculate that his weight is likely beyond the 238 pounds reported after last week’s physical (which also reported a top athlete’s blood pressure of 105/71), which represented a 14-pound weight gain for Trump since his last physical. Doctors at Walter Reed Hospital deemed the president’s health “excellent” following his exam last month.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment on the latest state of Trump’s hands, which appeared to look dramatically different on Friday than on Wednesday.
The bruising and swelling, his cankles, his frequent dozing captured on camera during meetings, and his increasing cognitive confusion have triggered calls by both critics and doctors for the White House to make Trump’s physician available to be questioned about the state of the president’s health and his fitness for office.
