Trump, 79, Sparks Buzz After Awkward Air Force One Exit
A viral video shows Trump, 79, exiting Air Force One slowly, fueling debate over presidential health and age as critics and supporters clash online.
Donald Trump has fueled new speculation about his health after an awkward descent from the steps of Air Force One.
A video of the 79-year-old former president disembarking from the plane at Palm Beach International Airport on Saturday morning, posted by MAGA influencer Paul Villarreal, is drawing attention online due to Trump's unusual hand movements and slow, cautious descent.
In the video, Trump appears at the aircraft door and taps his right leg three times with his right hand before beginning his descent down the stairs. He carefully makes his way down the steps, gripping the railing tightly, and it takes him approximately 18 seconds to reach the bottom of the short staircase.
He then gets into "The Beast," the heavily armored presidential limousine, where he is seen drinking what appears to be a Diet Coke. Trump is spending Christmas at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Online critics were quick to point out the former president's apparent frailty and the strange leg-tapping gesture.
One X user commented, "He's tapping his leg to make sure it's still working before he goes down the stairs."
Another wrote, "I wish he thought as much about the economy as he did about getting down those stairs."
One person speculated about his hand movements, "He's not touching his leg, he's trying to get the feeling back in his hand."
However, the former president's supporters defended him, with many pointing out that Trump had just finished a long day, which included a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Trump—who was filmed stumbling on the steps of Air Force One during a trip to New Jersey in June—has frequently spoken about being "very careful" when descending stairs to avoid the kind of mishaps that have befallen his predecessor, Joe Biden. Addressing the nation's top generals in September, Trump said, "I'm very careful. You know, when I go down stairs—like these stairs—I go very slowly."
A few days later, he revisited the topic in a speech to Navy sailors, taking a jab at Biden.
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"We had a president who was very bad, who didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't have a good chance of getting down those stairs successfully," he said. "And I have to be careful because one day I might fall too." The commander-in-chief then recounted what he tells himself when descending stairs: "I always say, 'Take it easy, go down the stairs slowly.' Have you ever noticed? I don't need to jump down the stairs. 'Take it easy, go slowly.'"
Questions about Trump's health persisted throughout his second term, particularly after he mistakenly revealed that he had undergone an MRI scan in October.
The White House later said it was a "precautionary" examination of his heart and abdomen, a claim that medical experts questioned, emphasizing that there was "nothing routine" about the scan.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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