President Donald Trump once again appeared to cover up severe bruising on his right hand with cosmetics.
The 79-year-old president’s makeup was visible to photographers as he spoke to members of the military at the Fort Bragg Army base in North Carolina on Friday.
It was the second day in a row that Trump slathered a layer of makeup on his right hand. The day prior, the sheen of foundation could be seen as the president struggled to keep his eyes open during an eight-minute-long speech from his Cabinet member, Lee Zeldin.
During his Friday appearance at Fort Bragg, Trump went through his usual routine of slamming political enemies and boasting about his presidential accomplishments, before lavishing his wife, Melania, with compliments. He called the 55-year-old first lady a “movie star.”
“Our country is truly blessed to have such a phenomenal first lady,” Trump said. “And now she’s a movie star. Can you believe it? You know who loves that movie? The ladies. They go see it three or four times, they see it with their husbands.”
As he spoke, he gesticulated with his shellacked right hand. The White House has repeatedly attributed his chronic bruising to higher-than-normal aspirin use and frequent handshaking.
When asked for comment by the Daily Beast about Friday’s makeup, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated her prepared statement that “President Trump is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other President in history. His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day.”
Last month, however, Trump was seen in Davos with his “good” left hand bruised, which the White House claimed was because he hit his hand on a table, blowing up the White House’s repeated claim that the bruises are the result of frequent handshaking.
“I clipped them on a table, so I put a little, what do they call it, the cream on it. But I clipped it,” Trump said at the time.
In recent months, Trump, the oldest man to assume the presidency, has resorted to using makeup to cover up his severe bruising.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?” he told The Wall Street Journal last month. “I have makeup that’s, you know, easy to put on, takes about 10 seconds.”
The shade of foundation on his hand does not match his skin.
Last year, the White House revealed Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older people that causes swelling in the legs.
Throughout his second term, the Daily Beast has extensively reported on Trump’s declining health, as the president is seen frequently napping during Cabinet meetings, suffering from cankles, having mental slip-ups, and slurring his words during speeches.
On Wednesday, Trump raised more alarm bells about his mental acuity as he stumbled his way through a speech during an event where he was awarded the made-up “Undisputed Champion of Coal” prize.
“I’m proud to officially name the undispuut…” Trump said Wednesday evening, before muttering something unintelligible for several seconds.
When reached for comment about the Wednesday incident, which occurred the day before Trump appeared to fall asleep while standing up during the news conference with Zeldin, White House spokesperson David Ingle said that Trump was “the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history.”
The post Trump, 79, Appears With More Makeup on Chronically Bruised Hand appeared first on The Daily Beast.
