Overview
- At a televised, shortened cabinet meeting lasting about 81 minutes, the president said he wasn’t sleeping in prior sessions and had only closed his eyes because the proceedings were boring.
- He skipped the usual full round of cabinet updates and declined to take press questions, departing from his typical extended, freewheeling format.
- He joked that photographers “got me in a blink” and said figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio would wake him if he were actually asleep.
- The remarks followed December’s roughly three-hour meeting that drew attention after cameras showed him with eyes closed for extended periods.
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said such moments reflect a thinking pose, while the White House reports preventive cardiac tests show good health as scrutiny over his age and stamina continues.