Trump says he shuts eyes Cabinet meetings because they're 'boring as hell'
- - Trump says he shuts eyes Cabinet meetings because they're 'boring as hell'
Joey Garrison, USA TODAYJanuary 27, 2026 at 9:40 AM
0
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump offered a new explanation for closing his eyes and appearing to fall asleep during Cabinet meetings.
"They're boring as hell," Trump told New York Magazine in an interview published Jan. 26.
Trump has seemed to doze off multiple times while guests talk during announcements in the Oval Office and as secretaries speak at Cabinet meetings, which often turn into hours-long affairs as top administration officials lavish praise on the president.
"I’m going around a room, and I’ve got 28 guys − the last one was three and a half hours," Trump said of the Cabinet meeting. "I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I’m listening. I’m hearing every word, and I can’t wait to get out.”
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/gwCxgHpqF46ye2PWjzLFjg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/02efef7b83aea1ad5474866db07063a2 class=caas-img data-headline="Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meeting" data-caption="
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
">U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/gwCxgHpqF46ye2PWjzLFjg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/02efef7b83aea1ad5474866db07063a2 class=caas-img>U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/8m88xLlcxV0EZ.g78KJ5_Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/74e08929f80e588dc104709261ff3c21 class=caas-img data-headline="Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meeting" data-caption="
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
">U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/8m88xLlcxV0EZ.g78KJ5_Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/74e08929f80e588dc104709261ff3c21 class=caas-img>
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/slNFFHKdmccmJkIXjf82cg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/24d09d2e9769cb5c30616db59749a136 class=caas-img data-headline="Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meeting" data-caption="
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
">U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/slNFFHKdmccmJkIXjf82cg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/24d09d2e9769cb5c30616db59749a136 class=caas-img>U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YYiyDde7fk1Q9GOiqsNVbA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2d5276ebe3425355c41107981f2bd274 class=caas-img data-headline="Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meeting" data-caption="
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
">U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YYiyDde7fk1Q9GOiqsNVbA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2d5276ebe3425355c41107981f2bd274 class=caas-img>U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5GHgUAK4Xd9OgM5DZRuvMg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4bba910d7be3192a8355e0bfa3f48abe class=caas-img data-headline="Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meeting" data-caption="
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2, 2025.
">U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5GHgUAK4Xd9OgM5DZRuvMg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4bba910d7be3192a8355e0bfa3f48abe class=caas-img>
1 / 7Trump caught dozing off in cabinet meetingUS President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2025.
In the interview, the 79-year-old Trump defended his health and fitness, telling the magazine “I feel the same as I did 40 years ago,” as he addressed concerns about his age. Trump has attributed bruising on his hands to his heavy intake of aspirin to thin his blood and swollen ankles to chronic venous insufficiency. But overall, he said he's in "perfect health."
"Your health is excellent, sir,” Col. James Jones, an assistant to the president's physician, Capt. Sean Barbarella, told Trump during the interview.
More: Trump explains mysterious hand bruises, bleeding in WSJ interview
Other White House officials told the magazine that Trump is actually listening attentively when he closes his eyes.
"It’s not dozing," White House staff secretary Will Scharf said. "Sometimes if he’s thinking about something ‒ and I made that mistake at first too ‒ he adopts a pose. He leans back or leans forward a little bit, and he either closes his eyes or looks down ‒ because he often takes notes in his lap.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is actually "actively listening."
President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025.Trump addresses father's Alzheimer's
Recent scans performed on the president ‒ known for unhealthy eating habits and avoiding exercise ‒ found "no abnormalities of the heart," Barbarella said.
Trump brought up his late father Fred Trump, who died in 1993, saying he had a "heart that couldn't be stopped," but pointed to his father's late-onset Alzheimer's disease. He struggled to come up with the condition's name.
“He had one problem,” Trump said. “At a certain age, about 86, 87, he started getting, what do they call it?” He pointed to his forehead and looked to his press secretary.
“Alzheimer’s,” Leavitt chimed in.
“Like an Alzheimer’s thing,” Trump said. “Well, I don’t have it.”
A bruise can be seen on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump's left hand during a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.Rubio says he naps on Air Force One in secret
Trump's family and top aides glowed about the president's fitness in the article.
Eric Trump described his father as “miraculous,” “remarkable,” “incredible,” and possessing “a level of energy unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, told the reporter, Ben Terris, "The headline of your story should be ‘The Superhuman President.’”
“The guy is too healthy. He's too active, ” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Trump, recounting how he struggles to break away from the president to sleep during trips on Air Force One.
“There’s an office with two couches, and I usually want to sleep on one of those two couches,” Rubio said. “But what I do is I cocoon myself in a blanket. I cover my head. I look like a mummy.”
Rubio said he doesn't want to be seen sleeping by Trump, who never naps on the plane.
“At some point on the flight, he’s going to emerge from the cabin and start prowling the hallways to see who is awake. I want him to think it’s a staffer who fell asleep. I don’t want him to see his secretary of State sleeping on a couch and think, 'Oh, this guy is weak,'" Rubio said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he closes eyes because of 'boring' Cabinet meetings
Source: “AOL Breaking”
