Donald Trump has once again been caught seemingly powering down while someone in his administration did the talking.
At a recent White House event, officials promoted health changes that would give Americans more information about the ingredients in their food.
But one moment during speeches from Cabinet members and officials stole the show as all eyes went straight to Trump.
Instead, during the Aug. 10 event, Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined the administration’s latest food safety push.
As Kennedy rambled on, Trump seemed uninterested in what was coming out of his mouth, his eyes repeatedly closing.
“It’s genuinely impressive that Trump can fall asleep with RFK Jr. shouting annoyingly right next to him,” one Threads user wrote.
On X, another viewer noticed, “Holy s—t Trump is OUT.”
But while Trump’s apparent nap quickly grabbed attention, some viewers were distracted by the noticeable movement in RFK Jr.’s hand.
“No way RFK Jr can read that paper. He’s trembling!!!” one person wrote.
View on Threads
Others said Trump and Kennedy looked like the dynamic duo nobody asked for but somehow got.
“I don’t know who is worse. JFK or [T]RUMP,” one person declared, apparently referring to RFK Jr.
Someone else added, “He’s drunk and Trump’s sleeping.”
Trump later fought sleep as National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya spoke for more than three minutes about science and vaccines.
“I saw this early on, and I’ve seen proof of it, where they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a, a bottle of soda poured into a little child’s, uh, body. And bad things happen in many, too many cases,” Trump said.
Shortly afterward, Trump’s head tilted downward and to his right before he appeared to catch himself. His eyes repeatedly opened and closed before he later squinted and pressed a hand against his nose, seemingly wondering when the speech would end.
At one point, the POTUS leaned farther back, rested his head against the chair, and closed his eyes again.
“Dozy Don strikes again. Add this one to the long list of him sleeping,” another person said.
“Trump just fell asleep yet again. There is no convincing me otherwise. We need him removed from Office ASAP,” another wrote.
🚨Donald Trump has just
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) August 10, 2026
LOST consciousness behind
RFK in the Oval Office.
He is FAST ASLEEP.
This is absolutely embarrassing and tragic now. Where is Jake Tapper??? https://t.co/r4zyhJdnjt pic.twitter.com/snDTjYojjz
Trump has made his closed eyes a bigger story than whatever was happening around him before.
During a previous Oval Office event announcing the return of the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, Trump appeared to nod off repeatedly while Kennedy stood directly behind him discussing the nation’s health.
“Seventy percent of adults are obese or overweight and 77 percent of our children cannot qualify for military service. And that should be an eye-opener for all of us,” Kennedy said.
Trump briefly appeared to wake before his eyes closed again. But the 80-year-old quickly perked up when Kennedy mentioned his name.
“And I’m so grateful to President Trump for his leadership and his vision of re-instituting the physical fitness test,” Kennedy said. “And challenging Americans to compete with each other in a friendly, congenial way and to get help each other get in shape so that we can prepare for a great future that this administration is going to provide for this country.”
Another awkward episode unfolded on Jan. 3 at Mar-a-Lago. Cameras captured another standing briefing where Trump struggled to focus while Secretary of State Marco Rubio glanced in his direction.
Rubio is also the same man who has insisted he has “never seen” Trump fall asleep, even as cameras have repeatedly caught the president fighting to keep his eyes open.
“That’s false,” Rubio responded during a hearing before describing Trump as “the guy doesn’t sleep.”
During another January ceremony for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was speaking as cameras caught Trump sitting unusually still with his eyes closed.
Kennedy, standing behind him, also appeared tired.
Two young girls were nearby when viewers claimed they could hear an unusual noise. One child suddenly looked toward her mother with an expression that sent social media users scrambling to replay the footage.
The Aug. 10 episode came during the same Oval Office ceremony where Trump signed an executive order calling for a change in the schedule of childhood vaccinations.
For an administration pushing its “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, the optics were hard to miss. Kennedy talked health while Trump struggled to stay awake, leaving viewers to wonder if the message put him to sleep.
