President Donald Trump delegated responses to Vice President JD Vance during a White House dinner with Central Asian leaders Thursday night, Nov. 6, 2025, raising eyebrows as the 79-year-old appeared fatigued throughout the event.

The dinner took place in the East Room of the White House, where Trump hosted the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Seated between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump faced questions from reporters about significant policy matters but repeatedly turned to his vice president for answers.

When a reporter asked about the significance of Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords, given the country’s existing three-decade relationship with Israel, Trump immediately responded by saying to Vance, “You want to answer that, please?”

“What the president has done is signal that the momentum of the Abraham Accords is alive and well in the second administration,” Vance said. “It’s not just going to be Kazakhstan, but also several other countries that join in the months to come.”

The Abraham Accords, established during Trump’s first term, created diplomatic normalization between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Kazakhstan’s addition marks the first expansion of the accords in Trump’s second presidency, though the move is largely symbolic since Kazakhstan has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992.

Trump announced the development via Truth Social following a phone call between Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Central Asian nation, located thousands of miles from Israel, represents a strategic addition as the administration seeks to expand the accords beyond Middle Eastern countries. Tokayev praised Trump during the dinner, calling him a great leader sent by Heaven to bring common sense back.

A second reporter from Fox News then questioned Trump about a federal judge in Rhode Island ordering his administration to fully fund food stamps for low-income Americans by the end of the week. Trump mumbled, “You wanna go with it?” to Vance, who again stepped in to provide the response.

“It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democrat government shutdown,” Vance said during the dinner.

The food stamps issue centers on U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s ruling on Thursday, November 6, requiring the Trump administration to deliver Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments in full to states by Friday. McConnell stated during a hearing that people have gone without for too long, and not making payments for even another day is unacceptable. Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits, which are typically distributed on a staggered basis throughout each month.

The Department of Agriculture had taken the unprecedented step of halting November benefits, citing a lack of funding amid the ongoing government shutdown that began on October 1. Democracy Forward, a progressive legal advocacy group, sued the USDA after the agency announced SNAP funding would not be distributed in November. The lawsuit alleged the department’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.

Vance warned of SNAP benefits running out before Trump suddenly became more animated and began discussing food stamp payments. “Biden went totally crazy. Gave it to anybody that would ask.”

Donald Trump said that assistance was being given to able-bodied people who didn’t truly need it, rather than to those facing serious difficulties. He explained that the aid was intended for individuals who were struggling and could be helped, not for those choosing not to work and simply living off the payments.

The Thursday evening appearance followed a morning event where Trump announced deals with pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to reduce prices of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. During that Oval Office announcement, a guest of Eli Lilly, who was thought to be using the weight-loss drug, fainted behind Trump while standing near the Resolute Desk. The press conference was paused while White House medical personnel responded to the incident.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office posted images from the weight loss drug event showing Trump with his eyes closed while Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, discussed obesity and sleep. Newsom’s press team wrote on social media, “DOZY DON IS BACK!” alongside the photos and video footage.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers responded in a statement that Trump was not sleeping and, in fact, spoke throughout the announcement, which represented a historic reduction in drug prices for Americans struggling with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other conditions. The White House characterized media coverage of the images as a garbage narrative.

The Central Asian summit represented a significant diplomatic effort by the Trump administration to secure access to rare earth metals crucial for smartphones, electric vehicles, and military technology. Trump held bilateral meetings in the Oval Office with each of the five leaders before the working dinner. Central Asia holds deep reserves of rare earth minerals and produces roughly half of the world’s uranium, which is critical to nuclear power production.

Trump emphasized during the dinner that previous American presidents had neglected the region completely. He pointed out that these nations once lay along the historic Silk Road linking the East with the West. Each visiting president gave remarks praising Trump’s efforts to promote trade in their region. Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon stated his country has very rich and boundless critical mineral resources.

Secretary of State Rubio had met with the Central Asian leaders at the State Department on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the C5+1 grouping and discuss expanding economic ties. Rubio emphasized the accords create partnerships bringing special economic development and demonstrating that majority Muslim countries and the Jewish state can partner on issues to show the world cooperation is possible.