As others spoke at the first meeting of President Donald Trump’s so-called “peace council,” he appeared to be struggling to stay awake.
The 79-year-old president chatted on stage for more than 45 minutes Thursday while others addressed the crowd gathered in Washington, DC.
As the event dragged on, cameras repeatedly captured Trump with his eyes closed.
The president’s eyelids appeared heavy as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke on Thursday, less than an hour after he took his seat after speaking.
At one point, when the world leader was speaking, applause erupted, and he stood up straight and opened his eyes.
It was the latest in a series of public rallies in which the oldest-ever president-elect appeared to doze in front of the cameras.
President Donald Trump watches his speech amid applause
The president has defended his naps during White House roundtables and Cabinet meetings after he was seen dozing off during them.
At the most recent meeting of senior officials late last month, the president insisted that he did not sleep during the December Cabinet meeting, but argued that he simply closed his eyes at the last meeting because it was “pretty boring.”
“It was kind of boring, but I didn’t sleep,” Trump claimed at the time.
He also claimed the camera only captured the moment he blinked, but that explanation contradicted the moment captured on video.
Trump’s habit of closing his eyes during meetings with senior officials and world leaders, followed by late-night social media posts, raised questions about the 79-year-old’s cognitive decline and health in office.
In addition to briefly swaying as Kuwait’s chief Sheikh Jarrah Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah spoke on Thursday, the president appeared to slump slightly to his side with his eyes closed as Bahrain’s king spoke.
It would be odd behavior to even rest his eyes after the president declared his “peace committee” to be the “most important committee.”
“There’s never been anything close, as they are the greatest world leaders,” Trump declared in comments at the top of the event.
At the end of the three-hour event, the president remained seated as other world leaders gathered around him to sign fundraising pledges. Trump then handed the document to someone beside him to hold it up and hand out pens, just like he would at a bill signing ceremony at the White House.
