President Donald Trump touched down in Memphis, Tennessee, flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and FBI Director Kash Patel, turning the visit into a full display of his inner circle in the Home of the Blues.
The stop was meant to spotlight his team’s wins, but the energy inside the roundtable took a turn, as what played out in real time left some wondering whether the moment said more about control slipping than accomplishments being celebrated.
While there, the team attended the Memphis Safe Task Force Roundtable meeting held at the Memphis Air National Guard Base.
Trump entered the room to one of his staple songs — “God Bless the USA.” However, the former “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV star quickly lost his energy as the meeting went on.
Footage of the napping commander in chief shows him in and out of sleep as one of his constituents praised his accomplishments.
‘Some people chose to tolerate crime, but you chose law and order and that’s why this task force works,” Bondi went on about working with Patel, Hegseth, and other agencies to redue crime.
Trump’s eyes began to open and close as he anticipated Bondi glancing over at him.
“When we came out to Memphis, you could not tell who was working with what agency,” said Bondi as she looked over at Trump to do a temperature check. “Because everyone was working so well together.”
The president continued, drifting in and out of sleep, forcing Bondi to begin raising her voice even louder despite the microphone sitting in front of her.
She kept talking after she noticed “Sleepy Trump,” saying, “We’ve met with this president multiple times,’ as her voice rose several notches again.
It wasn’t until Bondi pointed out a Memphis resident sitting in the audience, followed by Stephen Miller’s efforts, that Trump sat up and smiled into the crowd as if no one saw.
The president is known to fall asleep during multiple public events, both at home and abroad, and he even once fell asleep while he was standing up. But it’s unclear if this was one of his usual catnaps or if he was over Bondi’s over-the-top praise.
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Whatever the reason, the internet had a field day as folks dragged Trump for his public napping yet again.
“He’s definitely sleeping,” noted one Threads user while another noticed, “He doesn’t blink the entire time.” A third user noticed, “He is even rocking.” In response to a caption that read, “Trump is out,” another replied, “Oh man! I thought you meant he was out of a job, not out like a light. Hahaha!!”
MAGA followers ran with excuses, claiming Trump was simply bored by Bondi’s speaking, while critics suggested he was “all tuckered out from a weekend of golf” after being spotted at Mar-a-Lago.
One even said, “They gotta stop putting him at long events where somebody boring speaks on an echoey microphone.”
On Instagram, another wondered how he could sleep through her piercing voice, writing, “Imagine how sleepy you are to snooze through that shrilling voice of Pam Bondi.”
Trump’s administration is known to keep a close eye on him but this moment echoes another one of his public snoozes last January. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke during a briefing at the Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, about the military operation in Venezuela and its aftermath, he briefly paused after noticing his boss dozing off while sitting upright.
Moments like these have fueled ongoing chatter, with some observers suggesting Trump frequently nods off during discussions that involve major updates on high-stakes issues.
The Memphis Safety Task Force was deployed to the city in September, and it has reportedly reduced crime by 45 percent, arrested 7,200 people, seized almost 1,200 illegal firearms, and allegedly located 150 missing children. The force includes members of the National Guard and federal agents.
Democratic Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen objected to the task force while speaking with reporters. “We don’t need ICE, and we don’t need the National Guard,” he said. “Everything he does is guided towards him and his family’s wealth,” he added about the president.
Despite the opposition from city leaders, Trump said he will not remove the task force from Memphis.
