Though he holds the title of President of the United States, Donald Trump seems to have found himself with a new moniker after appearing to doze off during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The 79-year-old seemed to nod off during the lengthy meeting, his eyes visibly drooping as he prompted each Cabinet member to highlight their first-year achievements.
The 2-hour and 17-minute meeting covered various topics, including Trump’s firm stance on combating drug trafficking, concerns about his health, and an outspoken rant against Somali immigrants.
Social media users couldn’t help but notice Trump’s dwindling attention, dubbing him ‘Dozy Don’ and the ‘Commander in Sleep.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to comments by asserting that Trump was anything but lethargic.
“President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting,” she remarked in a statement to the Daily Mail.
This incident marks the third time recently that the President has been accused of dozing off in meetings.
Before being seen resting his eyes, Trump criticized journalists for their questions, stating: “You always find something new, like, ‘Is he in good health?'” He added sarcastically, “‘Biden was great.'”
“I sit here and do four news conferences a day. I ask questions from very intelligent lunatics. You people. I give the right answers. There’s never a scandal. There’s never a problem. I give you answers and solve your little problems,” Trump continued.
“You go back, and you can’t find anything, but you do, you do stories about Biden was in wonderful health,” he went on. “The guy couldn’t do a news conference for eight months.”
“If I go one day, I had one day where I didn’t do a news conference. ‘There’s something wrong with the President,'” he concluded.
Recently, the president’s health has been under increased scrutiny, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz urging Trump to release his MRI results following a series of incoherent social media posts.
Trump complied with the request, and on Monday, the White House revealed that his results were ‘perfectly normal,’ with no issues of concern.
“You people are crazy,” Trump told reporters.
“I’ll let you know when there’s something wrong. There will be some day, that’s going to happen to all of us. But right now, I think I’m sharper than I was 25 years ago, but who the hell knows,” he added.
Trump’s vigorous defense of his health occurred at the beginning of the meeting, but after about 90 minutes, his attention seemed to waver, and he closed his eyes while others spoke.
This led social media users to start calling Trump the ‘Commander in Sleep.’
One journalist even commented that the President seemed ‘unconscious’ during Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s speech towards the meeting’s end.
Leavitt, meanwhile, responded to the comment by highlighting the ‘amazing final answer’ Trump gave during his exchange with reporters, which included a harsh criticism of Somali immigrants.
Targeting Representative Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia, Trump said, “‘She’s garbage, her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great. These are people that do nothing but complain.”
Doubling down, Trump even claimed that these immigrants ‘come from hell.’
“And they complain and do nothing but b***h,” the President added. “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”