Donald Trump Caught 'Falling Asleep' at White House Again as Fresh Health Fears Mount Over President

US President Donald Trump is facing fresh questions about his health after appearing to close his eyes and slump back in his chair during a White House ceremony on Monday, 10 August.

The moment unfolded in the Oval Office while National Institutes of Health Director Dr Jay Bhattacharya spoke about a sweeping new executive order on childhood vaccines.

Video from the event, which quickly spread online, showed the 80‑year‑old president tilting his head back and remaining motionless for several seconds as if falling asleep, prompting critics to accuse him of dozing during the address.

White House officials insist Trump was simply listening with his eyes closed, but the clip has reignited a running debate over the president's stamina.

The latest flare‑up comes as Donald Trump promotes a controversial overhaul of US vaccine guidance that has already alarmed medical experts.

Viral Clip Fuels 'Falling Asleep' Claims About Donald Trump

The latest row was triggered by footage from the vaccine ceremony, shared widely on X. In the clip, Trump sits beside Bhattacharya as the NIH chief announces the new policy and calls the day 'historic'.

The president appears to close his eyes, his chin tipping towards his chest, then leans back with his head resting against the chair as the remarks continue.

Journalist Aaron Rupar, who reposted the video, wrote: 'Holy s— Trump is OUT.'

Other users piled on, tying the Oval Office moment to deeper worries about an octogenarian commander‑in‑chief.

'That pretty much sums up the sorry state of our republic. A circus with a declining octogenarian at the helm,' one commenter wrote, accusing Republicans of tolerating behaviour that 'is not normal'.

Not everyone watching was convinced the video proved anything. One user pushed back: 'Instead of obsessing over whether others are asleep, it is better to spend more time making your own life easier. Even if he were asleep, would your life be better?'

White House Rushes To Defend 'Sharpest' President

Over the past year where Donald Trump appeared to nod off on camera, only for his team to insist nothing was wrong. When he closed his eyes during a cabinet meeting in December 2025, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said that the president was not actually sleeping. 'He's not asleep,' she said. 'He's got his eyes closed and his head leaned back ... and, you know, he's fine.'

In July, Trump was again accused online of drifting off, that time during the funeral of his long‑time ally Senator Lindsey Graham. A clip from the service showed the president seated with his eyes shut as others spoke.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle pushed back hard, telling that Trump had been 'reflecting on the loss of his dear friend Lindsey Graham, for whom he had just delivered a beautiful eulogy'.

Ingle did not mince his words, adding: 'Anyone suggesting otherwise is a depraved moron.'

In a fresh statement responding to the latest Oval Office footage, Ingle described Donald Trump as 'the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history'.

Health Rumours, Bruising Photos and the Politics of Age

It can be recalled that Monday's incident is only the latest in a string of health‑tinged viral moments for Donald Trump. In the past year, he has been filmed leaving Air Force One while repeatedly slapping his leg as he walked down the stairs, behaviour that triggered another round of speculation about pain, balance or simply odd habit.

Days earlier, photos from the LIV Golf New York tournament at his Trump National Bedminster course in New Jersey had shown severe bruising on his forearm.

Asked about marks seen on his left hand, Trump has previously blamed his daily aspirin intake, which thins the blood, and a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency he received in July 2025.

Donald Trump and the White House have consistently refuted any claims of serious health problems.

Controversial Vaccine Order Raises Stakes for Donald Trump

The policy Trump was rolling out when he allegedly nodded off is as contentious as the footage. The executive order seeks to break up the widely used measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, jab.

Instead of a combined vaccine, the administration wants children to receive three separate shots, given at different medical appointments.

Officials argue that staggering the doses will highlight parental authority and provide families with more 'flexibility' over timing.

The order also calls for a new distinction between vaccines recommended for all children and those only for higher‑risk groups. Some others would fall into a category of 'shared clinical decision‑making', meaning parents and doctors would decide case by case whether to go ahead.

Public health organisations and medical experts have sharply criticised the approach. They warn that breaking up combination vaccines into multiple visits risks leaving children under‑protected for longer, increasing the chance that busy or cash‑strapped families miss appointments.

Critics also note the added cost and logistical burden on doctors' offices that already struggle to reach full coverage for routine jabs.

The order lands as vaccination rates among US children have fallen in recent years and measles, once largely under control, has re‑emerged in outbreaks. Trump's team continues to call for more research into vaccines and their alleged links to autism, a connection that mainstream scientists have long said does not exist.

President Donald Trump was in the Oval Office to sign an executive order that his administration describes as a 'historic day for public health in this country', according to Bhattacharya.

The order directs federal health officials to overhaul how childhood vaccines are recommended and administered, reflecting long‑standing claims from Trump's team that vaccines are linked to autism, despite those claims being rejected by the scientific community.

The White House framed the move as an attempt to give parents more control and flexibility over when and how their children are immunised.

Trump's overall health, and whether he is physically and mentally up to the job, has already been a noisy sub‑plot of his presidency. Allegations that he has nodded off in public before, combined with recent images of bruising and unusual behaviour, mean any hint of fatigue now gets picked apart in mad detail.