Susie Wiles insists Trump is ‘not sleeping’ during meetings as viral clips fuel debate

WASHINGTON, DC: After footage circulated showing President Donald Trump with his eyes closed during official events, the White House pushed back against claims that he was sleeping. In comments published on Tuesday, December 16, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles dismissed the speculation, insisting the president was fully alert.

Wiles addressed the issue in a wide-ranging interview series with Vanity Fair, where she rejected the idea that Trump had been nodding off during meetings that later went viral online.

“He’s not asleep,” Wiles said. “He’s got his eyes closed and his head leaned back … and, you know, he’s fine.”

White House defends Trump after cabinet meeting footage spreads

The remarks came just weeks after President Donald Trump was seen closing his eyes during a televised Cabinet meeting on December 2. The hours-long session showed the president squinting repeatedly and, at least once, fully shutting his eyes while seated at the table. 

Clips from the meeting quickly circulated on social media, fueling speculation over whether Trump had briefly fallen asleep. The White House moved swiftly to shut down that narrative.

When PEOPLE contacted the administration for comment at the time, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt strongly defended the president’s conduct.

“President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting,” Leavitt, 28, said.

She added that the meeting focused on highlighting “the exhaustive list of accomplishments” delivered by Trump and his administration “on behalf of the American people to Make America Great Again.”

Trump’s past closed-eye moments resurface amid scrutiny

The Cabinet meeting was not the first time President Donald Trump’s closed-eye moments attracted public attention. On November 6, the president was seen briefly shutting his eyes during an Oval Office announcement, a clip that quickly went viral.

Later that month, during an Oval Office meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on November 18, a reporter asked Trump how he manages his time and schedule.

Trump used the moment to emphasize how little rest he claims to get. “He does not sleep much, and I don’t sleep much, I think we have the same schedule. Thinking about our countries,” Trump said, referring to the crown prince.

He then added, “If you sleep a lot and you’re president … no, he’s not a sleeper, I’m not a sleeper, what else?”

Trump also used the exchange to mock former President Joe Biden, reviving one of his longtime attacks on his predecessor by suggesting Biden slept “all the time.”

Questions about President Donald Trump’s alertness predate his return to the White House. In April 2024, during the first day of his criminal trial, reporters in the courtroom observed moments when Trump appeared to doze off.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote at the time that Trump “appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack.” She later added that she saw Trump’s “head drooping onto his chest.”

Those courtroom observations resurfaced following the recent Cabinet footage, adding fuel to renewed online debate.

Susie Wiles calls Vanity Fair report a 'hit piece'

Following the publication of the Vanity Fair interview, Susie Wiles took to X to criticize the story’s framing and defend both herself and the administration. 

She described the piece as “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”

“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the president was left out of the story,” Wiles wrote. “I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the president and our team.”