What to Know
President Donald Trump has insisted that he isn’t actually sleeping when photos and videos capture him with his eyes closed during important meetings, but it kind of looked like he was sleeping during his inaugural Board of Peace meeting. The meeting was held on Thursday, February 19, and video footage circulating on social media appears to show the president dozing off.
In the past, Trump has defended his apparent tendency to sleep during meetings, claiming that he actually just likes to close his eyes. But video footage from the Board of Peace meeting seemingly shows the president jolting awake when people start clapping.
People online called him out for this.
Unsurprisingly, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office was among those who drew attention to Trump’s nap. Sharing the clip of Trump at the Board of Peace meeting on X, Newsom’s press office wrote, “That’s not a still photo of Dozy Don. He’s really just asleep.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar shared the same clip, writing, “Trump continues to struggle to stay awake as this interminable ‘Board of Peace’ meeting drags on. We’re two and a half hours into this!” And to be fair, that does sound like a long meeting. But as some people on X joked, if he really did get bored during the meeting, that’s still pretty telling. “He’s already bored of peace,” one person commented. This is made worse by the fact that Trump was the one who started this in the first place. “Is there anything worse than calling the meeting and then sleeping during it?” someone else questioned.
And because Trump has tried to accuse photographers of catching him while he’s blinking, another person joked, “That’s a long blink.” One other critic said it has to be the “longest blink in history.”
Trump continues to struggle to stay awake as this interminable "Board of Peace" meeting drags on. We're two and a half hours into this! pic.twitter.com/tTeqEdv5l0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 19, 2026
In the past, Trump tried to explain himself.
And people were not exactly buying it, given that his explanation was not the most convincing thing ever. Several photos and videos show Trump dozing off, but Trump previously told the Wall Street Journal that he simply likes to close his eyes. “It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. Right.
He also suggested that some of the photos that show him with his eyes closed were actually taken when he was blinking, which would not explain the video footage. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,” he told the publication.
