Behind the Resolute Desk on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, President Donald Trump, 80, slumped and seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open at an Oval Office event he himself was hosting, while his cabinet secretaries unveiled a $15 billion steel plant slated for eastern Iowa.

Mesabi Metallics is behind the project, which will rank as one of the largest steel plants in the country.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick heaped praise on the president from inches away, and Trump seemed barely able to hold his eyes open. Energy Secretary Chris Wright then shifted to the administration’s industrialization agenda and its new partnership with Mesabi Metallics; by that point the president’s eyes had closed and his head had drooped forward. Mesabi Metallics chairman Rewant Ruia took a turn describing the project.

Trump angled his face toward the executive as Ruia talked, his eyelids fluttering open and closed. Clips of the scene raced across social media. “Trump is struggling to stay awake on camera,” wrote Aaron Rupar, who posted video of the event on X.

“Our steel industry is roaring back to life,” the president said.

Trump wandered into a string of tangents after his steel remark. Canada drew blunt criticism from him, with the president ranking it among the world’s worst nations, and he promoted the renaming of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” that he had ordered. All of it came as his fight over trade and tariffs with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney grinds on. Reporters’ questions drew quiet, clipped answers from him, and his speech was slurred.

Iowa Stakes Behind the Event

Trump said at the Sept. 28 event that the project would not have happened under his predecessor, Joe Biden. Mesabi intends to supply the facility with iron ore from Minnesota, and Trump pitched the project as a manufacturing triumph ahead of the midterms.

Production at the Mesabi Metallics plant is expected to begin in 2030 and create at least 1,750 permanent jobs, according to the White House. The plant is projected to produce 7.5 million tons of steel annually at first, potentially rising to 10 million tons when fully developed, with up to 6,000 construction jobs. Mesabi Metallics is a Minnesota-based company owned by India’s Essar Group.

A special session of the Iowa legislature produced $1.4 billion in tax incentives for the Mesabi plant. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the law on Friday, Oct. 2.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, attended alongside other state officials, and the announcement appeared designed to lift the two Trump-endorsed Iowa Republicans. Several Trump-backed candidates have put distance between themselves and the president as his approval rating has sunk to record lows, and Hinson is one of them. A Marist poll showed Hinson trailing Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek by 8 points.

Asked why Republicans were struggling in the state, Trump said he did not know. He pointed to unspecified Democratic actions he said had hurt the country and dismissed the polling as fake.

Critics Pile On Online

Jimmy Kimmel mocked the moment in his Sept. 29 “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue. “Then, only minutes after invoking the name ‘sleepy Joe Biden,’ nappy Don Trump drifted off to dreamland on live TV,” Kimmel said. He added: “Even Mitch McConnell was like, ‘Bro, wake up!’”

Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, accused Trump of “sleeping on the job” on Sept. 29. Hunter Biden posted footage on X the same day with the caption “Sleepy who?” Writer Molly Jong-Fast posted about Lutnick on Sept. 29, writing, “In trumps defense howard is very very boring.”

Commentator Brian Krassenstein shared footage of the Oval Office event on X. “I have no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump fell asleep multiple times today. He’s just tired, just like we’re all tired of him,” he wrote.

A Long Record of Dozing

Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. The Daily Beast’s count puts him at a minimum of 23 instances of being caught napping at events since he retook the Oval Office. His old nickname for his predecessor, “Sleepy Joe Biden,” had come out of his mouth only moments before he appeared to drift off on Sept. 28 — an irony that was not lost on critics.

Accusations that he dozed followed his attendance at Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26, 2025, an appearance that also drew criticism because he wore a blue suit against the Vatican dress code. An investment forum in Saudi Arabia on May 13, 2025, produced another apparent nap, which earned him the label “Sleepy Don,” and again at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on July 15, 2025.

On Dec. 2, 2025, he was seen leaning to one side with his eyes closed at a cabinet meeting as Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Ukraine. He seemed to nod off at the signing of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act on Jan. 14, 2026, with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins behind him, and he drew significant backlash after appearing to fall asleep at a Memorial Day ceremony on May 25, 2026. He has also appeared to nod off at Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral and at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon.

Trump has brushed off the speculation. He told a cabinet meeting that the previous session had gotten boring, and he insisted he had not slept but had shut his eyes because he wanted to leave.

Questions About His Health

Scrutiny of his physical condition intensified Tuesday, Sept. 29, when he spoke with reporters after a luncheon with technology executives at the White House. Video posted by his aide Margo Martin captured an odd stance, with his left leg looking limp, his knee bending inward and his right hand slathered in makeup. Commenters online demanded an explanation, and one suggested the president might be wearing a leg brace.

In August 2025, Trump appeared to drag his right leg and move sluggishly while golfing with former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and Clemens’ son Kacy at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. Ben Meiselas of MeidasTouch, reviewing that footage, described the president as dragging the leg and unable to hold a straight line.

Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency in July 2025. In October 2025, he underwent imaging at Walter Reed that he described as an MRI; his physician later said it was a CT scan. He is frequently seen with swollen ankles and dark bruises on his hands, and he has shown signs of mental slip-ups and slurred words in public. He and the White House maintain that everything is fine.

More than 30 doctors signed a letter earlier in 2026 warning of a steep and dangerous decline, saying he is not mentally fit for office and calling for his removal with the greatest urgency. The signatories pointed out that the U.S. keeps more than 5,000 nuclear warheads ready to launch on the president’s order.