A viral video appearing to show Donald Trump falling asleep at a Memorial Day ceremony this Monday sparked outrage online, reigniting rumours about the state of the US president’s health. Social media users claimed Trump was dozing off, and furious that it could take place at a ceremony to honour fallen US military personnel. Though the low-quality video is difficult to verify, it's reignited scrutiny about Trump's health.
Social media users claimed Trump’s eyes were closed during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and that he was fighting sleep. They shared the video saying Trump has "no respect" and prompted renewed mockery over Trump’s long-running attacks on former president Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe”, with users pointing to what they claimed was Trump himself appearing drowsy at a national event.
The viral 30-second video though, is difficult to verify due to its low-quality, as it's unclear whether pixels or shadows affect the clip as Trump's eyes cannot be clearly seen. No full streams of the Memorial Day event depicted the ceremony in 4K, with the placement of the camera at a distance.
Trump has been previously accused of sleeping on the job: last December, during an hours-long cabinet meeting, a video of him with his eyes closed for long periods of time also prompted much debate. Trump himself later commented that he was simply "bored," but not asleep. He was also accused this March of falling asleep at a security roundtable in Memphis, Tennessee, and just this month he faced renewed backlash after a video appearing to show his eyes closed in the Oval Office. The White House though pushed back on the rumours online, claiming he was "blinking."
The Arlington video came a day before Trump underwent his fourth publicly-disclosed health exam since he returned to office, spending 3 hours at the Walter Reed Medical Centre for what the White House said is a “preventative medical checkup."
Trump said on Truth Social that everything “checked out perfectly", but fresh rumours about his health swirl before his 80th birthday next month.
An April survey by Ipsos/Washington Post found that just 40% of Americans believe Trump has the mental capacity required to carry out his presidential duties.
