President Donald Trump appeared to doze off during a televised cabinet meeting in Memphis on Monday, repeatedly closing his eyes and jerking his head as administration officials showered him with effusive praise.
The 79-year-old president struggled to stay awake during a roundtable on public safety held inside a hangar at the Memphis Air National Guard Base in Tennessee. Cabinet members and local officials took turns delivering what observers described as “Dear Leader-style” compliments while Trump’s eyelids fluttered and closed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the gathering while Trump sat beside him with his eyes shut. “Before President Trump, our nation was set on a perpetual course of decline,” Hegseth told the audience. FBI Director Kash Patel followed with his own tribute, praising Trump as the president looked toward him with a blank stare, his eyes growing increasingly heavy.
The meeting began with Trump walking onstage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” before commenting on the venue’s acoustics. He boasted that there would soon be “like, no crime” in Memphis, a city of approximately 650,000, thanks to his administration’s efforts.
Trump revealed that the roundtable almost didn’t happen because “we have a couple of things going on,” referencing the ongoing war in Iran that has killed 13 U.S. service members and triggered soaring global oil prices. He repeated his claim that Iran now wanted “to make a deal,” though the Iranian government flatly denied any such negotiations had taken place.
Before Trump’s energy faded, he delivered remarks on lower crime rates and border security, then pivoted to discuss Elvis Presley. He announced plans to visit Graceland after the meeting, becoming visibly more animated when discussing the King of Rock and Roll.
“I love Elvis,” Trump declared, lamenting that he never met the singer despite meeting “Sinatra” and others. “Sometimes I feel I should tell a little fib and say I knew him well.”
By the time participants began their rounds of praise, cameras captured Trump nodding off repeatedly. In one clip circulated on social media, Trump tilted his head down and to the side, closing his eyes for at least 30 unbroken seconds while officials addressed him directly.
This wasn’t Trump’s first drowsy public appearance. He was filmed apparently dozing off during a lengthy cabinet meeting last year while Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke. Earlier this month, Trump admitted he’d grabbed some shut-eye during cabinet meetings because they were “boring as ****.”
When confronted about previous incidents, Trump has defended himself. “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the **** outta here,” he told reporters. He has also insisted he doesn’t fall asleep during public appearances, telling the Wall Street Journal last year that closing his eyes is “very relaxing” and that photographers sometimes catch him blinking.
Trump was 78 years and seven months old when sworn into office in January 2025, making him the oldest American president ever inaugurated. Since then, he has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a circulatory condition common in older adults that causes swollen ankles. His frequent hand bruises have been attributed to daily aspirin use and what the White House calls “frequent handshaking.”
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a board-certified cardiologist, told CNN that Trump’s pattern of nodding off is called “increased daytime somnolence.” Reiner noted: “He’s fallen asleep in a crowded Oval Office and he’s also fallen asleep at Cabinet meetings with people talking directly to him.”
Trump’s trademark long-winded speeches have grown even longer, veering into bizarre tangents on topics ranging from wind farms to First Lady Melania Trump’s underwear. He regularly confuses names and dates during public appearances. Despite these observations, Trump and his doctors maintain he is in “excellent” health.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump frequently mocked then-President Joe Biden’s cognitive capacity, repeatedly calling him “Sleepy Joe.” Now “Sleepy Don” has trended on social media as Trump himself faces scrutiny over similar concerns.
Following the Memphis roundtable, Trump proceeded with his planned visit to Graceland, touring Elvis Presley’s iconic mansion. He became only the second sitting president to visit the estate after George W. Bush brought Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi there in 2006.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior administration officials accompanied Trump at the crime task force meeting, each taking turns praising the president’s leadership as he drifted in and out of consciousness.