President Trump put his makeup-slathered hand on full display as he bid farewell to King Charles III on Thursday morning.
After spending the night at Windsor Castle—reportedly having slept in separate beds from his wife, Melania—Trump was, after breakfast, waved off to his meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer by Charles.
At the door, as the King said goodbye, Trump shook his hand warmly and placed his other hand on top, before gushing to awaiting reporters: “He’s a great gentleman and a great king.”
Moments earlier, the pair had posed together for a photograph—along with Melania and Queen Camilla—in a corridor lined with historic paintings and antique furniture.
The image—taken on the final day of Trump’s visit to the U.K.—puts his right hand squarely in the frame, with heavy concealer catching the light.
Trump’s makeup-coated hand was also on display when he arrived at Chequers, the PM’s plush country residence, soon after.
It follows multiple moments on the trip when the president’s hands drew scrutiny, including an official royal post that didn’t shy away from a close-up of the same cosmetic slathering, and coverage of his stage-managed greetings at Windsor.
Trump has been attempting to cover bruising on his hands for weeks, with makeup visible on the same spot as he appeared at the Rose Garden, the U.S. Open, and during a golf outing in the past two weeks alone. The White House has waved away Trump’s medical complaint as irritation from endless handshakes and aspirin use.
But Trump’s insistence that there’s nothing to see has done little to quiet broader health chatter, which stretches back months.
The president, 79, has been photographed multiple times with swollen ankles—a condition the White House attributes to chronic venous insufficiency.
Questions have also gone beyond ankles and cosmetic cover-ups. Behavioral experts say that Trump’s apparent bouts of daytime drowsiness and on-camera lapses aren’t “normal” for someone in peak form, not to mention his intermittent inability to walk straight—claims the White House has also angrily dismissed.
But when it comes to discussions about unusual hands, Trump is in good company. King Charles has long endured commentary about his “sausage fingers,” which he has jokingly referred to himself.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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