Donald Trump plopped down into his chair in the middle of a press conference on Thursday, after whining about having to remain on his feet for too long at Oval Office events.
The 79-year-old president spoke from a podium to announce efforts to expand IVF access during a White House event with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others.
During his remarks, Trump began complaining about having to remain standing during Wednesday’s Oval Office press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Yesterday I did this and I stood for about an hour and a half as people spoke,” Trump said. In fact, Wednesday’s press conference ended after an hour.
“This time I’m sitting right there,” he declared, pointing to his chair at the Resolute desk, “and I’m gonna watch you.”
The cankles-stricken president, who has faced mounting questions about his health, continued to complain about the exhausting task of staying upright.
“I stood for an hour and a half like this,” he continued, demonstrating his erect posture. “I said, ‘You got to be kidding. Here we go.’”
Trump, the oldest person yet to be inaugurated as president, kept griping about having to stand on his feet while hearing from “one after another” guest: “It was wonderful listening to them—but I said, ‘If I have to do this every day…’”
Turning to RFK Jr., he asked, “Bobby, should I stand or sit?” Kennedy slapped the president’s chair to signal for the president to retire to his desk.
“Thank you Bobby,” Trump said, before introducing Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor now in charge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The commander-in-chief then walked back to his desk and slumped into his leather chair, leaving the room’s other occupants standing tall behind him.
Trump managed to stand up again about 20 minutes later to deliver the event’s closing remarks.
The White House did not provide immediate comment to the Daily Beast on Trump’s reluctance to stand, or on his overall health.
After Trump visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a “follow-up evaluation” last week, his doctor Sean P. Barbabella said in a memo that the president “remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and physical performance.”
Barbabella said Trump’s “cardiac age…. was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.”
In July, the White House revealed that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common in seniors where blood pools in the legs due to damaged veins.
The aging president is often seen with swollen ankles that bulge over the tops of his shoes, and has at times struggled to walk in a straight line.
He has also displayed a persistent purple bruise on the back of his right hand, which the White House has attributed to vigorous handshaking combined with “the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regime.”
The White House often boldly defends Trump’s health, with spokesman Kush Desai previously telling the Daily Beast that the president has “tremendous health,” calling him “a champion-level golfer with the vitality, mental acuity, and energy levels that most young people could not fathom having.”
