Questions about U.S. President Donald Trump‘s health resurfaced following an incident at a White House event earlier this month, which celebrated him as a “Champion of Coal.”
Multiple pieces of footage from the event show the POTUS briefly stumbling over his words in the middle of his short speech.
“I’m proud to officially name the undispuhhh – jusssss…” said the President, before asking, “When did this come out? Mr. Speaker?” without finishing his initial statement.
During the ceremony, the U.S. President was awarded the “undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal.”
“The undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal. We have to proceed always — I don’t use the word coal, you know, it needs a PR job because it has had a bad reputation for a while,” said the President during the event, adding, “It has to be preceded by beautiful, clean coal, OK? We’re cleaning it up very good.”
Trump stumbles reading “Undisputed Champion of Coal”
Said “undithput” accepting Washington Coal Clu🅱️’s first award at the White House
Paused, asked “when did this come out Mr Speaker” then moved on
Signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to buy coal-fired electricity pic.twitter.com/PINtV6hT1D
— Boi Agent One (@boiagentone) February 11, 2026
The 79-year-old’s apparent slurring comes amid continuous scrutiny over his health. A recent image captured the president sitting for an informal podcast at a fast-food chain in Rome, Georgia, with visibly swollen ankles, which, according to The White House, is due to chronic venous insufficiency.
“In recent weeks, President Trump noted mild swelling in his lower legs. In keeping with routine medical care and out of an abundance of caution, this concern was thoroughly evaluated by the White House medical unit,” the White House said.
“The president underwent a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies. Bilateral lower extremity venous doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency,” it continued.
“A benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70,” the statement about Trump’s venous insufficiency concluded.
President Trump will join the show Sunday pic.twitter.com/ZC76YarHNK
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) February 19, 2026
A spokesperson for the president also dismissed concerns about the swollen ankles in a statement to The Daily Beast, stating, “President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in modern American history. The only thing swollen is Erkki Forster’s stupidity that will prevent [him] from working for a legitimate news outlet.”
Trump himself addressed his “cankles” in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying he used to wear compression socks to help with them but stopped because “I didn’t like them.”
The president’s bruised hands have also drawn attention over time, with multiple images from various events showing visible bruising.
Addressing the bruises in the aforementioned interview with the newspaper, Trump said they were caused by aspirin.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense? They’d rather have me take the smaller one. I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising,” he told the newspaper.
He also claimed that he uses makeup to cover the bruises, stating, “I have makeup that’s, you know, easy to put on, takes about 10 seconds.”
During the interview, the U.S. President also admitted that he does not like exercising and called it “boring.”
“I just don’t like it. It’s boring. To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me,” he said.
