Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Donald Trump has a giant bruise on his hand. People spotted it when Trump met with French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday, and it was still visible during when he hosted British prime minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Could this be a sign that Trump is suffering from some serious, life-threatening illness? Sure. Search “Trump hand bruise” on X and you’ll find that armchair physicians have provided a wide range of diagnoses, from “Trump is getting regular IV infusions” to “the president injured himself in a dementia-related fall.” And did you know that “the queen had a similar bruise a week before she died?” Suspicious!
Or, not suspicious at all. Trump loved to bully Joe Biden for his decrepitude and pretend that he possessed almost superhuman health and mental acuity, though he is only three years younger. But in reality, President Trump is 78 years old, and sometimes old people get random bruises. As the Mayo Clinic explains, “Easy bruising is common with age … as people get older, the skin becomes thinner. It also loses some of the protective fatty layer that helps cushion blood vessels from injury.”
It would be great if the Trump administration provided detailed medical records that could put an end to all the speculation that he is suffering from some mysterious illness. But instead, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt just keeps giving the same dubious explanation: It’s one of those hand-shaking injuries you’re always hearing about.
“President Trump is a man of the people, and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other president in history,” Leavitt said in a somewhat garbled statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. She continued, “His commitment is unwavering, and he proves that every single day.”
Leavitt provided a similar statement to NBC News, adding, “President Trump has bruises on his hand because he’s constantly working and shaking hands all day, every day.”
It appears Leavitt got this line from Trump himself. Here’s what the president-elect said when he showed up to his Time “Person of the Year” interview with a bruise on his hand three days before Thanksgiving:
Sitting under bright lights for a 30-minute photo session ahead of a 65-minute interview, he’s asked to explain the bruising on his right hand. “It’s from shaking hands with thousands of people,” he says.
There is no evidence that Trump worked a rope line just before his Time interview, or that he “meets more Americans” than “any other president in history.” And it’s not like any other world leaders are constantly black and blue from greeting people (save for nonagenarian British monarchs). But sure, he does greet a lot of people, and he has a pretty aggressive handshake:
President @realDonaldTrump greets @Keir_Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to the White House 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/hClm0cRDGQ
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) February 27, 2025
So what’s really going on with Trump’s giant bruise? You’ll have to decide for yourself. Either it’s proof that he’s the most rugged and hardworking man ever to sit in the Oval Office, or it’s confirmation that he is, as Graydon Carter famously put it, a “short-fingered vulgarian” with “skin of gossamer.”
