Questions about Donald Trump health and wellbeing are not letting up.
The president's health has long been a myth for the nation, especially given his persistent secrecy about it, save for occasional boasting, like when he dubiously suggested that he is 6'3" and 224 pounds, or recent confirmation of his chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis. In recent months, he has also raised eyebrows for repeatedly sporting bandages on his (often bruised) hand, which he did yet again during his latest outing.
On Sunday, December 7, Trump along with wife Melania Trump stepped out for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at The Kennedy Center, which honored the careers of some of his allies in the entertainment industry, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, and George Strait.
© FilmMagicFor the annual event, both Trump and Melania stepped out in black, the former in a tux and the latter in a simple sheath dress. And while Melania accessorized with a diamond bracelet and earrings, more noticeable on Trump was the bandage that he had covering the top of his hand.
As soon as photos of the red carpet made it onto social media, netizens were quick to make remarks on his appearance, with one simply writing: "Big bandaid on right hand," to which another suggested it could possibly be to cover marks from receiving intravenous medication.
"Can he look more uncomfortable?!!!!" another wrote, as more followed suit with: "His hand is all swollen," and: "Make up and a band-aid on that right hand I see," as another argued that "Americans have the right to know" what is going on with his health.
© Getty ImagesThis is the second time in a week that Trump is seen with a type of bandage on his hand. The first instance this week was during a Tuesday cabinet meeting at the Oval Office, during which he had two band-aids parallelly stacked on his right hand.
Unexpectedly, he was quick to brush off questions about his health, simply telling reporters: "I'll let you know when something's wrong, reiterating he has no major health concerns, per Forbes. "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," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the outlet in an email, adding: "His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day."
According to a letter from Trump's physician, Captain Sean Barbabella, the frequent bruising, which has often been ill-covered with mismatched foundation, can also be attributed to the use of aspirin taken as part of a "standard cardiovascular prevention regimen."
© Getty ImagesIn October, Trump again raised eyebrows when challenged Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett to take the supposed IQ test he took, one that has since been identified as a possible test to identify signs of dementia or Alzheimer's. "I took — those are very hard — they're really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way, but they're cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump," he said. "Let Jasmine go against Trump. I don't think Jasmine — the first couple questions are easy: a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn't come close to answering any of those questions."
© Getty ImagesAccording to The New Republic, Trump appeared to be describing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which in April his physician said in a memo he had taken, and allegedly got a perfect 30 out of 30 score. Trump has bragged about acing the MoCA test several times over the years, however Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, who created the test in 1996, warned it should not be used to measure intelligence. A score of greater than 26 is considered normal, while 18-25 is considered mild cognitive impairment, 10-17 is considered moderate cognitive impairment, and a score less than 10 is considered severe cognitive impairment.
"There are no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests," Dr. Nasreddine told NBC News in 2020, maintaining: "The purpose of it was not to determine persons who have a low IQ level. So we cannot say that this test reflects somebody's IQ."
