Shortly after Donald Trump began his second term, observers noticed that the president’s right hand appeared to be bruised. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in February that there was no cause for concern, explaining in a statement that he “meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other president in history.”
It was a difficult claim to fact-check — no one counts presidential handshakes — but the answer seemed vaguely plausible. Maybe the elderly president had been vigorously pressing the flesh, which in turn led to some visible discoloration.
But in the weeks and months that followed, questions persisted. In fact, earlier this month, after Trump was seen with a bandage on his hand, a reporter asked Leavitt to address the matter anew. “We’ve given you an explanation,” she responded. “The president is literally constantly shaking hands.”
It’s probably time for the White House to come up with a new explanation. New York magazine reported:
While saying weird things to children who called him to talk Santa on Christmas Eve, Trump was spotted with the usual splotch of mismatched and unblended makeup on the back of his right hand. And while it was much smaller and lighter than what we’ve seen on Trump’s right hand, he also had some purple discoloration on the back of his left hand. […]
The left-hand bruising, as well as the right-hand makeup, was still visible on Sunday when Trump met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago.
I can imagine a scenario in which White House officials simply said, “Look, Trump is the oldest elected president in American history. He’ll soon turn 80. Like it or not, sometimes octogenarians’ hands don’t look great.”
But they’re not saying this, at least not yet. Instead, the official line from Team Trump is that handshaking led to bruising — despite the fact that the issue is now affecting his left hand, and the president is not ambidextrous.
Complicating matters further is the broader context. This is the same president who has struggled with questions about a recent MRI — Trump has said he has “no idea” which part of his body was scanned — that came around the same time he appeared to fall asleep at a couple of White House events.
It’s entirely possible there’s nothing to this story, but given Trump’s unfortunate record, he hasn’t exactly earned the benefit of the doubt on questions of medical transparency. If White House officials expect these questions to go away, they’re probably going to be disappointed.
