The president’s tribute turned sour.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Donald Trump tried — and failed — to hide his battered and bruised hand during a Veterans Day church service on Wednesday.
The president, 80, kicked off the holiday by attending a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. But as he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and delivered fiery remarks, his right hand quickly became the main attraction – covered in his iconic makeup and apparently swollen.
“A nasty bruise is visible on Trump’s hand as he salutes,” independent journalist Aaron Rupar noted in an X post on Wednesday.
A “nasty bruise is visible on Trump’s hand as he salutes,” Rupar noted.
The president’s hand seemed swollen.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
At one point during the ceremony, Vice President JD Vance and others on stage folded their hands in prayer. Meanwhile, Trump, apparently embarrassed, covered his swollen hand with the other and scanned the crowd with his eyes.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s bruised and battered hand has been on display. The White House claimed the bruising on Trump’s hand was due to frequent handshakes and his dose of aspirin, which had been above the recommended amount — 325 milligrams per day — for 25 years.
The White House has previously said that Trump “is a man of the people and meets and shakes hands with more Americans daily than any president in history.”
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He also suffers from chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older people that makes it more difficult for blood to return to the heart from the lower extremities, the White House revealed last July. Swelling of the lower legs and ankles is a symptom that Trump has often exhibited.
Donald Trump’s ankles appeared swollen during numerous meetings with world leaders in the Oval Office.
Photo illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters
Trump admitted that he had tried compression socks before, but didn’t like them. Instead, he said he tried to avoid sitting for long periods of time.
The president has a history of falling asleep at events similar to the one he attended Wednesday morning, most recently a 9/11 memorial service at the Pentagon.
Not only did Donald Trump have difficulty keeping his eyes open, but he also suffered from a visibly drooping face during the events of 9/11.
But the oldest president to be inaugurated appeared enthusiastic Wednesday, making a point of calling out his embattled Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was also in attendance and narrowly avoided impeachment Tuesday night. Trump stressed that the first Fox and Friends Weekend the co-host was doing a “fantastic job.”
The president apparently battled health issues long before entering his golden years. He avoided military service due to alleged bone spurs. In total, Trump received five deferments during the Vietnam War – four for educational reasons and the fifth for a controversial bone spur diagnosis.
“I can be very military,” the president said in 2013.
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