Donald Trump uses barricades and scaffolding to cover up his failures, but he cannot hide from brutal zoom-ins on the one thing he cannot fix: his appearance.
The president, 80, has transformed into a swollen, slower-moving version of himself since returning to office in January 2025. He proclaims himself the fittest politician to sit at the Resolute Desk.
It is a lie his most loyal staffers help orchestrate, but pictures still reveal a decline he has been unable to rewrite.
For a man who loves the spotlight and praise, he has seemed uncharacteristically meek while representing the United States on global stages.
Still, the presidency tasks him with keeping up appearances while millions wait for his healthy charade to slip.
Eagle-eyed critics did not have to wait long during Trump’s appearance at the two-day NATO Summit in Turkey. From the moment he stepped off his new Air Force One jet, it was obvious that Trump’s appearance would amplify whispers about his declining health.
His medical team continues to give him a clean bill of health, but there is still one troubling aspect about Trump that contradicts that assertion: his bruised hands.
‘Something Money Can’t Fix’: Trump’s Swollen, Discolored Hands Raise Health Concerns Days After Video Shows Him Slumping and Struggling
‘Holy Jesus …Hang On’: Trump ‘Stumbles’ Through an Unsteady Moment as His Foot Gets Stuck and Officials Step In
Getty’s unforgiving close-ups during the trip revealed a thick layer of concealer on the top of Trump’s right hand. His aging mitts looked red, but the makeup showed up as a sandy, tan color.
The splotchy spackle has been present for months. On Facebook, savage commentary included, “Looks like he’s going to keel over any minute!” and “Looks.like a corpse with orange pancake makeup.”
One can only wonder, “If it looks that bad with makeup, what does it look like without?” A prediction read, “Oh, it’s DARK PURPLE. He’s already on blood thinners so, his veins don’t stop leaking blood easily.”
View on Threads
Other responses to new photos of the ever-injured hand include “The hand that never heals. WTF!” and the commonly shared speculation that “he’s getting infusions of some drug every weekend to try and keep him alive and he’s old af, so the i.v. leaves a bruise every time.”
According to White Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, excessive handshaking is to blame for the contusions.
A critic mocked the explanation when they remarked, “So much handshaking. Handshaking at levels nobody has ever seen before. Some say it’s the best handshaking they’ve ever seen.”
More people fussed over the eyesore on X. Those reactions included someone tweeting, “He’s gonna need a special effects makeup artist to hide that bruise.” An tenth individual commented, “Do you think Donald Dick actually believes he’s fooling anyone? I’d bet he does.”
In May, Trump waved at reporters on the South Lawn, once again revealing his bruises and a gross hole-like dent.
That same month, he received an “excellent” health report following his fourth examination. His physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, notated Trump’s chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis and his use of blood thinners, the latter being a regimen Trump boasted keeps his blood from being “thick.”
People noticed when he quit taking weekend golfing trips to Mar-a-Lago, when he began hiding from public view for days on end, and when he began sending appointed officials in his place for international travel.
The unusual observances could only mean one thing, to skeptics, at least: that the administration is working overtime to prevent Trump from having a health mishap.
View on Threads
Not even the controlled confines of the Oval Office have been without incident. Trump regularly slurs some words and mispronounces others, and, all too often, he is caught sleeping when others are speaking.
His meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on day one of the NATO Summit was a debacle, too.
Erdoğan stepped in to help guide Trump by the arm from Air Force One, and then the U.S. president’s energy crashed during a televised meeting, showing him leaning in a chair, losing a battle to fatigue.
