Donald Trump's Staff Leap To Defend His Sleepy Behavior And He Blows It All Up In Four Words

Donald Trump has spent years barking many wild nicknames he's made up for his opponents, including one of his favorites: "Sleepy Joe Biden." Yet, as critics often say about Trump, "Every accusation is an admission." While Biden certainly snoozed from time to time, he wasn't the only one consistently appearing to fall asleep during meetings and events. In fact, Trump's claims about his vitality have proven to be no match for his "Dozy Don" behavior.

New York Magazine's Washington correspondent Ben Terris, writing for the magazine's Intelligencer, headed to the White House in late January 2026 in hopes of determining just how unhealthy or fatigued the president really is, and whether the public is even right to question Trump's health. Unsurprisingly, his cronies were quick to dish out excuses for his highly discussed drowsiness, and they could've gotten away with it, too, if Trump didn't immediately deflate their efforts with his own comments.

Why did Trump have his eyes closed during a cabinet meeting last month? The answer depends entirely on who you ask. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Terris that Trump was actually "actively listening" when he appeared to be napping. Meanwhile, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf dismissed accusations that Trump was deep in REM sleep during certain Oval Office events, claiming that's simply how it looks when Trump is thinking really hard. "It's not dozing. Sometimes if he's thinking about something ... he adopts a pose. He leans back or leans forward a little bit, and he either closes his eyes or looks down — because he often takes notes in his lap."

It seemed like the Trump administration had a unified front to explain why Trump had looked so sleepy during cabinet meetings. However, the president had something different to say, bluntly telling Terris: "It's boring as hell."

Karoline Leavitt and Will Scharf gave it the old college try when attempting to convince people that what looks like sleeping is actually an intense thinking session for the apparent bionic man president. Yet, strangely, Donald Trump is assuring the public that no, in fact, his fatigued appearance is simply an indication that he is bored to tears. "The last [meeting] was three and a half hours. I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I'm listening. I'm hearing every word, and I can't wait to get out," Trump told Ben Terris (via Intelligencer).

Despite Trump's own admission, the usual suspects still played defense for his behavior. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Trump's pesky heavy eyelids "a listening mechanism," also telling Terris that Trump is both "too healthy" and "too active." Earlier in January, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took these health claims to the next level on "The Katie Miller Podcast" by saying Trump has "the constitution of a deity." 

However, the president's 80th birthday is in June 2026, and there are signs — beyond just common sense — that he isn't some godlike, Herculean 40-something. After all, Trump has revealed that he's on a very high daily aspirin dosage, a regimen that Dr. Bruce Davidson said "is only recommended for people who've had a stroke to prevent a second stroke" (via The Daily Beast podcast). Ultimately, you can only hide so much information (and horribly bruised hands) from the public, and claims that Trump is some kind of divine being are a tough sell for most people.