President Donald Trump was curiously sporting two large Band-Aids on his right hand during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The 79-year-old is regularly spotted with flesh-colored makeup attempting to hide the persistent bruising on the problematic hand.
During Tuesday’s epic meeting, the president sat with his hands hidden under the desk. Among the few moments Trump appeared to visibly raise his hands was while discussing reports of his failing health.
“I’ll let you know when there’s something wrong,” Trump told reporters after complaining about the focus on his health. “There will be someday. That’s gonna happen to all of us. But right now, I think I’m sharper than I was 25 years ago.”
The Band-Aids were captured by a keen-eyed Getty photographer when Trump scratched his face.
Trump had been spotted looking sleepy during the meeting, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump has been attempting to hide his bruised hand this year after it raised questions about the state of his health, employing tricks including putting his left hand on top of his right.
He also kept his hand tucked under the desk during a meeting to sign the bill to end the government shutdown last month, even hiding his hand behind the folder containing the bill at times. The bruising was evident when it was time to sign the document.
The White House even strategically placed a “Gulf of America” in front of Trump’s right hand during an Oval Office photo-op in September.
While the lashings of concealer on his right hand have been spotted throughout the year, Band-Aids are less common.
Trump used multiple Band-Aids during a game of golf in Scotland on July, on the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers of Trump’s bruised right hand.
The White House has consistently referred questions about the omnipresent bruising to a medical report released on July 17, which said the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency.
They said it was a “benign and common condition” usually seen in individuals over 70.
The Trump administration has also attributed the bruising to “minor soft tissue irritation” caused by “frequent handshaking” and the use of aspirin.
On Monday, after the White House released details of the “preventative” MRI test Trump took, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s heath remains “excellent.”
In July last year, just days after his assassination attempt, Trump had a small Band-Aid on his hand, which also appeared bruised.
Back in January 2019, Trump was spotted with a Band-Aid on the back of his hand during a trip to Texas, with Politico reporting that blood was visibly seeping through the dressing.
The White House said it was used to protect an injury Trump sustained while playing with his son Barron, who was 12 at the time. “The President was having fun and joking around with his son Barron and scratched his hand,” then White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Fox News host Sean Hannity posted a photo on Instagram in January 2019 with the blood-soaked Band-Aid visible.
During the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president went into great detail about taking a cognitive test at his recent physical assessment.
“I said, ‘Is it hard?’ They said yes. I said, ‘Well, I’m a very smart person. Who was the last president to take one?’ No president has ever agreed to take one.”
Trump said he was told if he did “poorly” in the test it may have become public.
“I said, ‘I won’t do poorly. I’m a smart person, not a stupid person’. And as the doctor will tell you, I aced it, right? I aced. I got every question right.”
“And these are tough questions,” Trump said before taking a drive-by at the assembled media. “These are questions that I would say ninety-nine percent of the people that I’m talking to right now, meaning the people that from the fake news would not do well in those exams.”
He also addressed a recent article in The New York Times that said his health is fading and he has lessened his workload during his second term as president as he deals with fatigue and aging.
“Then I read in The New York Times, Is Trump sharp?,” Trump said, reverting to the third person. “Trump is sharp. But they’re not sharp. That’s why they’re going out of business, The New York Times. I hear they’re they’re losing so much money, it’s ridiculous. They’re a bunch of fakers.”
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