Trump Sleeping Footage Dispute
Rep. Ted Lieu Confronts Marco Rubio With Videos of Trump Appearing to Sleep in Meetings
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Ted Lieu confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio after Rubio denied ever seeing President Trump fall asleep at official meetings. Lieu played multiple videos of Trump appearing to doze off—including during a Cabinet briefing and while Rubio spoke—arguing Rubio lied to Congress and raising concerns about Trump’s health and ability to stay awake. Rubio rejected the premise, saying he has never seen Trump asleep and attributing the clips to something other than cognitive impairment, while also arguing the president works extreme hours and calls Lieu in the early morning. Lieu escalated the exchange by asking whether Rubio had witnessed Trump struggle to stay awake in other settings, including classified meetings. The confrontation became a highly public dispute over the footage and the underlying question of whether Trump’s health is affecting his performance at high-stakes events.
Key Points
Lieu specifically framed one clip as coming from “last December,” saying it was “a Cabinet meeting” and that “you will see that he is sleeping while you are talking.”
In the exchange, Rubio repeatedly reacted in real time—when Lieu said he would show the video, Rubio could be heard exclaiming “Oh my God,” and he also laughed out loud as Lieu introduced the footage.
Beyond the “sleeping at meetings” footage, Lieu pressed Rubio about Trump’s health after “his repeated medical visits,” tying the confrontation to broader concerns over health and cognitive decline rather than only the clips.
Rubio not only denied cognitive impairment but went further, saying: “I assure you, this is not a president that sleeps or is cognitively impaired in any way, shape, or form,” and also argued Trump “doesn’t sleep on overseas flights.”
Lieu’s third clip was described as “covering viral footage” from the May 25 Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where Trump’s eyes appeared closed during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remarks.
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