A short video clip showing US President Donald Trump appearing to briefly doze off during an Oval Office event on Friday has gone viral on social media, drawing widespread attention and no small amount of commentary.
The event came just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly declared that the President "doesn't sleep."
The footage, shared widely on platform X, shows Trump seated at the Resolute Desk during what appeared to be a routine White House event, with his eyes closed and his head dropping forward momentarily while officials stood around him.
The clip, though only a few seconds long, was enough to set off a wave of speculation online about the 79-year-old President's health and stamina.
Trump appears to be completely passed out asleep during his 3pm Oval Office announcement pic.twitter.com/gKyNjvgZW3
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) June 4, 2026
The timing proved particularly awkward given remarks Rubio had made to lawmakers just days earlier.
Asked about Trump's energy levels, the Secretary of State said he had never seen the President fall asleep, emphatically telling Congressional members that Trump simply "doesn't sleep", a characterisation apparently meant to convey the President's relentless work ethic.
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When a Democrat Ted Lieu, D-California, played multiple video clips of Trump during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on Tuesday, Rubio denied that Trump was sleeping.
“You will see that he is sleeping while you are talking,” Lieu told Rubio before playing a clip from a December Cabinet meeting of the president with his eyes closed, his head nodding, while Rubio spoke next to him.
Rubio disputed that Trump had nodded off.
“That's false,” he said. “I've never seen him fall asleep. On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep. Which is a big problem, because he calls me at 2 in the morning, he calls me at 5 in the morning, and you know, I like to sleep a little bit.”
oh my goodness -- Ted Lieu played Rubio a video of Trump sleeping while Rubio tried to talk to him during a cabinet meeting. Then this exchange happened:
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 3, 2026
RUBIO: I've never seen him fall asleep
LIEU: I'm gonna show you a video that shows you just lied to Congress
*plays… pic.twitter.com/yccC9GcYoq
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The contrast between Rubio's assurances and the viral clip was not lost on social media users, who were quick to juxtapose the two.
It is worth noting that a fleeting moment captured on camera does not definitively establish that Trump fell asleep, and the clip has not been independently verified in full context.
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