A conveniently placed “Gulf of America” hat helped obscure bruising on Donald Trump’s right hand during an Oval Office photo-op on Tuesday.
The president, his left hand on top of the affected one, opted for the MAGA headwear on the Resolute Desk while flanked by members of Alabama’s congressional delegation. That Gulf Coast state, Trump had announced earlier in the day, will house the new headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.
The move comes after days of speculation surrounding the president’s health, including a frenzy on social media about the 79-year-old’s absence from public view over the weekend. Trump was spotted looking weary and without his usual orange glow.
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Trump on Tuesday also wore makeup on his bruised hand, as he has done several times before.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked by the Daily Beast whether the hat placement and Trump’s bruising were linked.
Trump’s bruising is caused by shaking a lot of hands, the White House has previously explained. It’s also a side effect of using aspirin, which the president takes “as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regime.”
The White House’s photo from Tuesday afternoon wasn’t the first instance of it diverting attention from the 79-year-old president’s physical ailments.
Last month, after Oval Office meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, the White House posted photos with obstructed views of Trump’s swollen ankles. In each instance, a model of Air Force One on a coffee table prevented a clear look.
The White House announced in July that the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which makes it harder for blood to move from the legs to the heart.
Addressing his health Tuesday, Trump insisted concerns were “fake news.”
“Last week, I did numerous news conferences—all successful. They went very well, like this is going very well,” Trump said. “And then I didn’t do any for two days, and they said, ‘There must be something wrong with him.’ Biden wouldn’t do them for months. You wouldn’t see him, and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him, and we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape.”
