White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has attempted to promote Donald Trump as the face of a campaign to “Make America Fit Again” (MAFA), despite concerns about the 79-year-old president’s health.
In a post on X, Leavitt shared an article by Matt Lamb, a contributor for the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), detailing Trump’s “crusade” to get the country fitter.
She promoted the piece to her 1.5 million followers after days of speculation about Trump’s health, with rumors getting so intense over the weekend that there were even widespread suggestions on social media that Trump had died.
Trump—who has for months been spotted with large bruises on his right hand and swollen ankles—also largely disappeared from the public eye for days, only to return looking weary and drained as he visited his golf courses.
Writing on AMAC’s website, Lamb argued that Trump—who once claimed that the human body functioned like a battery, with exercise depleting its limited energy supply—should be praised for putting fitness “front and center as part of his broader pledge to ”Make America Healthy Again.”
That pledge includes reviving the Presidential Fitness Test in schools, with challenges such as a timed one-mile run and sit-ups.
Elsewhere, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” in which Americans are tasked with completing 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups in under 10 minutes.
“The Trump administration’s push to bring back fitness isn’t about politics—it’s about saving a generation from decline,” Lamb wrote. “By making America fit again, Trump and his cabinet are challenging the country to build strength, discipline, and health as the foundation for national renewal.”
The article was published Monday as speculation about Trump’s own health reached a fever pitch over the weekend.
Trump, who often uses makeup to conceal bruises on his hands and swelling from his chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis, addressed the speculation in a Sunday post on Truth Social, insisting he has “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”
He is scheduled to make his first official public appearance in a week on Tuesday with an Oval Office announcement.
However, aides and Leavitt have already dismissed suggestions that the remarks will address his health, and instead will be related to the Department of Defense.
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