Swelling around President Donald Trump’s ankles appeared in photographs taken at the Pentagon’s observance on Friday, September 11, 2026, the service marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks — and the images returned a condition to public view that the White House had disclosed more than a year ago.

At the ceremony in Arlington, Virginia, First Lady Melania Trump sat next to her husband, Trump, 80, while all other living presidents and their spouses attended the commemoration at Ground Zero in New York. Pictures from the event caught him low in his chair, and his ankles looked as though they were spilling over the tops of his shoes.

On social media, some users said the president appeared to nod off or struggle to stay awake as the names of the victims were read aloud.

The limits of the images matter just as much. A photograph on its own cannot determine the cause, the severity or the progression of swelling in any individual, and it cannot establish whether what appeared at the Pentagon represented any change in Trump’s condition. No official, the White House included, indicated that the president experienced an acute medical problem during the ceremony. Officials have confirmed no change in his condition.

What the White House Has Disclosed

None of the underlying diagnosis is new. The White House put out a statement on July 17, 2025, saying that a comprehensive examination of Trump, then 79, had identified chronic venous insufficiency after he developed swelling in his lower legs. Bilateral lower-extremity venous Doppler ultrasound scans were part of that workup.

Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, the White House physician, called it “a benign and common condition,” one seen particularly in people over 70. His July 2025 memorandum reported that the testing turned up no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease. Barbabella had written after Trump’s annual physical on April 11, 2025, that blood flow to the president’s extremities was unimpaired, and declared him in excellent health.

A White House memorandum in May 2026 remains the most recent public account of the president’s health. It said he was still in “excellent health,” noted mild swelling in his lower legs — an improvement on where things stood a year earlier — and added that he was fully fit to carry out the duties of his office.

A “mystery bulge” was visible again beneath the back of Trump’s suit on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, during his visit to North Carolina to campaign for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley. White House aide Margo Martin posted an Instagram story showing the president speaking to reporters outside Air Force One. The White House has not said what it is. The bulge was first spotted during a 60 Minutes interview in April.

It had also turned up in footage from a Long Island rally shared last month by former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, which showed Trump leaving the stage. As of September 17, 2026, online speculation had ranged from a catheter to an exoskeleton to heart failure equipment or an adult diaper, none of it confirmed.

How the Condition Works

Chronic venous insufficiency takes hold when the valves inside the leg veins stop sending blood back to the heart efficiently. Blood pools in the lower limbs, and swelling can follow in the lower legs and ankles. Age makes it more likely, and clinicians describe it as a chronic problem managed over a lifetime rather than cured.

How many people live with it is a matter of varying estimates. The Cleveland Clinic puts the reach of the condition at about one in 20 adults; other estimates set the share of affected adults at 10 percent to 35 percent, most of them 65 or older. In U.S. history, only one president has taken office at a greater age than Trump, who ranks second.

The standard regimen is unglamorous — walking and other activity, keeping the feet elevated while seated, and medical-grade compression stockings. Leg swelling can stem from a range of other medical issues, so appearance alone does not settle the question: a venous reflux ultrasound gauges how efficiently the veins return blood toward the heart, and clinicians rely on it to evaluate patients.

Trump has talked about his own approach. The Wall Street Journal published an interview on January 1, 2026, in which he said he had worn compression socks for a time before giving them up, and that he instead tries not to stay seated for long stretches. Golf is his exercise, though he often rides a cart.

Responding to a Daily Beast query about the bulge on Thursday, September 17, 2026, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in an emailed statement: “Only the glue-sniffing degenerates at the failing Daily Beast would obsessively push baseless conspiracy theories about President Trump, and that’s because they suffer from a severe, crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted their peanut-sized brains.” He added: “President Trump’s sharpness, unmatched energy, relentless work ethic, and historic accessibility stand in stark contrast to what we saw during the last administration when Democrats and the legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people.”

Inside the Pentagon Ceremony

Hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, killing 184 people, and the service honored them — one strike in a coordinated attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was among the senior officials in attendance. The Department of War said the event honored those killed and recognized the consequences the country still carries from that day.

Trump had announced in August that he would mark the anniversary in Washington, so his appearance at the Pentagon rather than the main commemoration was known well in advance. Vice President JD Vance went to the Ground Zero ceremony. Four former presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — turned out there as well. Trump used his Pentagon remarks to pay tribute to the victims, survivors, first responders and military personnel, and to connect the period that followed the attacks to his administration’s military campaign against Iran.

A White House honor tied to the attacks also came during the anniversary week. Welles Crowther, the equities trader and volunteer firefighter known as “the man in the red bandana,” received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously from Trump on September 8. He was 24 when he died helping others escape the South Tower, and is credited with helping as many as 18 people escape.

The president flew out of Washington, D.C., on the night of September 11, headed for Ireland, where he was scheduled to spend the weekend. No White House statement has been issued about the photographs from the Pentagon.