President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake during a public safety roundtable in Memphis, as his eyelids fluttered while officials expressed their glowing praise.
Donald Trump appears to fall asleep during meeting
The president appeared to doze off on Monday during a crime-stopping task force meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. Cabinet members and local officials took turns bashing the previous administration and praising Trump.
Donald Trump, seated inside a hangar at the Memphis Air National Guard Base, was photographed with his eyes closed and his head occasionally jerking as he appeared to be sleeping. The moment came while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the audience, telling them that “before President Trump, our nation was set on a perpetual course of decline.”
As Hegseth spoke, Trump’s eyelids fluttered and closed. When he was not drifting, the president’s remarks ranged from including a joke about relocating to Tennessee and a suggestion that Hegseth had advocated for war with Iran.
Trump opened the event by commenting on the venue’s audio system. “Wow! This is a nice place with the best sound system,” he said as he sat down. “It sounds like the finest opera hall anywhere in the world. Let’s come back here more often.” He noted that the roundtable nearly did not happen because “we have a couple of things going on,” a reference to the ongoing war in Iran that has claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members.
The president also discussed Elvis Presley, announcing plans to visit Graceland after the meeting. “I love Elvis,” Trump told the audience. “I never met Elvis. I met ’em all—I met Sinatra, I met all over them—(but) I never met Elvis. Sometimes I feel I should tell a little fib and say I knew him well. I love Elvis” (via The Daily Beast).
All in all, this is not the first time Donald Trump has appeared to be sleeping during official events. However, he has refuted by saying, “I just closed them (eyes).”
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.com.
