Shorter days, sleepy eyelids: Trump experiences inevitabilities of ageing

The day before Halloween, President Trump returned to Joint Base Andrews after nearly a week in Japan and South Korea. He was quickly taken to the White House, where he handed out sweets to trick-or-treaters. Supporters boasted about his endurance, with one writing online, "This man has been going nonstop for DAYS!"

Just a week later, Trump appeared to nod off during an Oval Office event.

Through headline-making social-media posts, confrontational exchanges with journalists and speeches packed with partisan rhetoric, Trump often presents himself as endlessly energetic and physically robust. Now approaching the end of his eighth decade, he and those around him still describe him as the Energizer Bunny of American politics, reports The New York Times.

The picture, however, is more nuanced. At 79, Trump is the oldest person ever elected president, and he is getting older. To fend off criticism about his age, he frequently compares himself to President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who at 82 became the oldest person to serve in the role and whose team carefully managed his appearances to conceal signs of increasing frailty.

Trump has even hung a photo of an autopen where Biden's portrait would otherwise be and regularly mocks his predecessor's fitness.

"He sleeps all the time — during the day, at night, on the beach," Trump said last week. "I'm not a sleeper."

Trump still maintains an almost constant presence in American public life. He faces the media more often and takes more questions than Biden did. World leaders, business chiefs, donors and others see him frequently and observe him up close.

Yet, according to a New York Times review of his schedule, nearly a year into his second term the public see him less than before. His official diary includes fewer public events, and he travels within the country far less than he did by the same point in 2017, although he has made more trips abroad.

His public timetable has also become shorter. On average, most of his appearances now fall between noon and 5 p.m.

And when he does appear publicly, there are occasional signs of fatigue. During an Oval Office event starting around midday on 6 November, Trump sat behind his desk for about 20 minutes while company executives around him discussed weight-loss drugs.

At one stage, his eyelids sagged until they were almost shut, and he seemed to drift in and out of sleep for a few seconds. Later, he opened his eyes and glanced at the journalists in the room. He only stood up after one of the guests nearby fainted and collapsed.

Trump has added to questions about his health by disclosing medical procedures without providing clear details. While in Asia, he said he had undergone an MRI scan at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in early October.

"I gave you the full results," he told reporters, inaccurately referring to a doctor's summary that did not mention the MRI and offered little information.

"I've no idea what they analysed," he added onboard Air Force One when asked again about the scan. "But whatever they analysed, they analysed it well, and they said my results were as good as they've ever seen."

He also uses makeup to cover a bruise on the back of his right hand, prompting speculation about a health issue that his doctor and staff say is the result of taking aspirin and shaking countless hands. Online speculation surged in September when the bruising appeared alongside noticeably swollen ankles.

In response to detailed questions about Trump's health — including the MRI results and whether he had nodded off in the Oval Office — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised his vigour and drew a contrast with Biden.

"Unlike the Biden White House, which concealed Biden's cognitive decline and kept him away from the press, President Trump and his entire team have been open and transparent about the president's health, which remains exceptional," Leavitt said.