Donald Trump appeared to use heavy make-up to cover a visible bruise on his right hand as he announced a three-week extension to the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire in the Oval Office on Thursday, with video from the event showing the US president keeping his left hand placed over the right for much of the appearance.
The bruise was not new. Similar discolouration had already been noticed during the White House Easter Egg Roll on Easter Sunday this year, and therecurring marks on Trump's handhave repeatedly prompted questions about his health, his circulation and the unusually determined effort to keep the issue from plain view.
The latest footage was awkward in a way television can be unforgiving about. At the Resolute Desk, Trump sat with both hands in front of him, but the right was rarely left exposed for long.
Ever the image of physical fitness, Trump slathered his bruised hand with concealer.https://t.co/IFSXdOT2GK
Earlier photographs from a roundtable discussion showed what appeared to be a thick layer of light-colouredmake-up spread across the back of that hand, though the darker bruising beneath it still showed through. That visual detail matters because it cuts against the tidy explanations the White House has offered before.
The official line has been consistent, almost stubbornly so. When similar bruising drew attention last summer, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was the result of relentless handshaking, describing Trump as 'a man of the people' who meets and shakes hands with more Americans daily than any other president in history. Back in December last year, Trump himself told TIME Magazine that the bruise came from handshaking.
The trouble for the White House is not simply that the bruise has reappeared. It is that the pattern now looks familiar enough to invite doubt. A single mark can be shrugged off. Repeated episodes, photographed over months, are another matter.
An April 2025 presidential health report said Trump had no major issues. It stated that his blood flow to his extremities was 'unimpaired,' that his joints and muscles had 'no swelling,' and that while his skin showed 'minor sun damage,' there were no 'concerning lesions or growths' present. That assessment was meant to settle nerves. It plainly did not.
Donald Trump Appears Drowsy During Oval Office Event, Sparks Fresh Debate on Stamina#trump#sleeping#event#viralpic.twitter.com/tgvm4q1o3d
Then, in July 2025, the White House said Trump had been diagnosed withchronic venous insufficiency, a condition linked to reduced blood flow in certain parts of the body, especially the extremities. Officials also tied that diagnosis to the swelling seen around his ankles in circulated photographs.
Source: International Business Times UK
