<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the start of a cabinet meeting just after midday on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> made his seemingly obligatory reference to "Sleepy Joe" Biden.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Then he assured he was "sharper than I was 25 years ago," while rebuking </span><em><span>The New York Times</span></em><span> for a lengthy and detailed story last week laying out how the 79-year-old president appears to have slowed down during his second term.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Trump is sharp, but they're not sharp," Trump said of the newspaper.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/social-media-ban-australia-meta-begins-locking-out-children/f1c32ba4-ded4-48f5-b751-c41bdcdb8ecf" rel="" target="_blank" title="Meta begins locking out Australian children from social media accounts"><strong><span>Meta begins locking out Australian children from social media accounts</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump chastised reporters for what he cast as unfair treatment when it comes to his health and stamina, adding, "you people are crazy".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But over the next hour and a half, Trump struggled to embody the sharpness and vigour he had just laid claim to.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In fact, he seemed to wage a lengthy and often-losing battle with a midday nap. Even as his cabinet was assembled to engage in one of his favorite activities – singing the praises of Trump – he repeatedly appeared to doze off.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trump-said-he-was-sharper-than-i-was-25-years-ago-then-he-spent-an-hour-appearing-to-doze-off--again/6276d993-4dfc-40c1-940a-dbc6e8fefc65" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was the kind of scene, in fact, that Trump once upon a time ridiculed as evidence of a president's lack of stamina and fitness for the job.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 15 minutes after his broadside against the health and stamina reporting, Trump seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised his trade wars and hailed "the greatest cabinet ever for the greatest president ever".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's blinks appeared to get progressively slower as he heard from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and then from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/grant-hackett-ceo-secrets-to-success/7d380e6d-1d74-47a6-b443-481147fb6954" rel="" target="_blank" title="Grant Hackett was on top of the world at age 20. This is what he wishes he'd known"><strong><span>Grant Hackett was on top of the world at age 20. This is what he wishes he'd known</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The struggle grew even more real when he heard from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By the time Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr spoke, Trump appeared frozen with his eyes closed for 10 to 15 seconds at a time, before ultimately moving his eyes or giving a nod.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Just before 1.45pm Washington time, he gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio the same treatment, as Rubio extolled Trump's efforts to end wars.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Except this time Trump's apparent dozing was more pronounced because he was seated right next to the secretary, and the cameras were zoomed in on the two of them. (Previous speakers had been more distant from Trump.)</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the end of Rubio's monologue, the secretary of state cracked a joke about how we're now upon "the most wonderful, magical time of the year. And by that, of course, I'm referring to the College Football Playoff."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If Trump heard the joke, he barely showed it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/gift-card-laws-australia-why-professor-of-consumer-law-will-never-buy-one/6c5d380f-20f1-47d5-94b1-5f9c67894725" rel="" target="_blank" title="'You probably have no rights': Law expert's Christmas gift card warning"><strong><span>'You probably have no rights': Law expert's Christmas gift card warning</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked about the scene on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained Trump had been "listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She praised him for holding nine Cabinet meetings this year and for an "exclamation point" answer during a Q&amp;A when he attacked Democrats and Somali immigrants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In all of these historic meetings, the president and his incredible team highlight the exhaustive list of accomplishments they have delivered on behalf of the American people to Make America Great Again," Leavitt said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was the second time in less than a month that Trump seemed to wage this very pronounced battle during a White House event. The last came on November 6, in the Oval Office. After that one, the Washington Post reviewed multiple video feeds and calculated that Trump had spent almost 20 minutes fighting to keep his eyes open.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Images of Trump dozing off during that event – images even clearer than ones Tuesday because of the camera angles available in the Oval – soon went viral.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The point is not that a 79-year-old man dozing off is a sign of a serious health concern or even really all that remarkable. As Leavitt noted, Trump did take a series of questions after Rubio spoke.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/drunk-raccoon-animal-goes-on-drunken-rampage-in-virginia-bottle-shop-and-passes-out-on-toilet-floor/a1a0378e-3c17-464c-bae3-0bf6a38f03ac" rel="" target="_blank" title="Raccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia bottle shop and passes out on toilet floor"><strong><span>Raccoon goes on drunken rampage in Virginia bottle shop and passes out on toilet floor</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And it's indisputable that he's made himself much more available to the press than his predecessor. He also seemed to have a late night and early morning ahead of the cabinet meeting, posting on Truth Social before 5.30am after sharing posts on immigration, Venezuela and other topics close to midnight. (Indeed, he had posted many dozens of times the night before.)</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But these kinds of scenes are clearly becoming more prevalent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And as is often the case, Trump has rendered himself a victim of the standards he has set for the presidency. Not only did he repeatedly label Biden "Sleepy Joe" because of Biden's lack of activity; he often ragged on Biden </span><em><span>for literally sleeping</span></em><span> – and </span><em><span>falling asleep on camera</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump cast such a scene as unbecoming of a president and a sign of Biden's disengagement, at least when the shoe was on the other foot.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2021, after Biden appeared to fall sleep at a climate conference in Scotland, Trump said in an email: "Nobody that has true enthusiasm and belief in a subject will ever fall asleep!"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump continued criticising Biden on the subject in 2022 and 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After Biden's vibrant State of the Union in early 2024, Trump said that "most of the time, he looks like he's falling asleep."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In June 2024, soon before Biden's disastrous debate performance, Trump ridiculed the then-president for appearing sleepy after overseas travel, saying, "he falls asleep at every single event".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/keysborough-man-charged-after-principal-stabbed-at-school-in-melbourne/695e9c28-68ca-4bbd-8a5b-96e93b48cb3d" rel="" target="_blank" title="IT teacher, 37, charged after principal allegedly slashed with kitchen knife at Melbourne school"><strong><span>IT teacher, 37, charged after principal allegedly slashed with kitchen knife at Melbourne school</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By late in the 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly brought up Biden falling asleep on the beach. Trump seemed to regard this as particularly unseemly and bizarre.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"How do you fall asleep when cameras are raging, right?" he said at one point in September 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He told podcast host Andrew Schulz the same month: "You'll never see me sleeping in front of the camera."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If falling asleep in meetings was a sign that Biden lacked "enthusiasm and belief," why wouldn't the same standard apply to Trump?</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Of course, when it comes to health questions, context is key. There is no question that Biden presented as much more elderly than Trump does, and that those around Biden obscured his deterioration.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Biden didn't keep anything approaching the schedule or public presence Trump does today, even as Trump's appearances and domestic travel, as the </span><em><span>Times</span></em><span> noted, have declined. (His foreign travel, however, has increased so far this term.)</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Trump has also long been opaque about his health, including by releasing hyperbolic letters from his doctors and resisting full disclosure about his medical visits as president – including </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-willing-to-release-mri-results-but-no-idea-which-part-of-body-it-examined/480a3a41-765b-47bc-87e6-7937ab789537" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><span>a recent MRI</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>(The White House this week did ultimately release a summary of his October medical imaging of his cardiovascular and abdominal systems – after the president claimed he didn't even know what body part it had been conducted on.)</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During Trump's first term, Dr Harold Bornstein, who'd written a glowing letter about his health in 2015, said that Trump had "dictated that whole letter."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The letter had implausibly claimed Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency," despite his being close to 70 years old at the time and famously averse to exercise.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Those kinds of things are going to seed suspicions and legitimise investigations such as the </span><em><span>Times'</span></em><span>, especially when the president shows more signs of age.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Just like calling someone "Sleepy Joe" ad nauseam is going to make it more noticeable when Trump can't seem to shake his own sleepiness.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/Z8tJCf"><strong><span>Sign up here</span></strong></a><strong><span> to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.</span></strong></div></div>