Toddler, 2, who regained hearing steals show with dance at Trump's White House event
Heartwarming moment in the White House as 2 year old shows off cure for deafness.
— J (@JayTC53) April 23, 2026
President Trump announces "miracle cures" like Regeneron will be free on Trump RX.
Watch Travis have some fun in the White House rolling on the ground 😭🥹 pic.twitter.com/JXhXucmcpe
WASHINGTON, DC: Two-year-old Travis Smith, who was born deaf, becomes the centre of attention at a White House event held around a miracle drug that helped Travis regain his hearing.
Travis's cheerful presence, marked by his dance and laughter, stole the show at the Oval Office event celebrating the Trump administration's drug pricing efforts. The moment offered the real-world impact of a high-cost drug.
Child plays and dances in the Oval Office
Travid, who came to attend the event at the Oval Office with his mother, Sierra Smith, was seen playing and dancing as key officials gathered around President Donald Trump, who elaborated on how the drug helped the two-year-old hear again.
In the pictures going viral online, Travis is seen dancing and playing while the president looks on. He also cooed and laughed in his mother Sierra's arms as she stood next to President Trump during the event.
The child’s treatment is tied to Regeneron, the pharmaceutical company that recently struck a pricing agreement with the administration aimed at lowering costs for American patients.
The company was also invited to the Oval Office event. As per the agreement, the company will lower the cost of the drug in the American market.
Trump describes the drug’s impact as incredible
During the one-and-a-half-hour-long event, Trump highlighted that the miracle cure healed 100 per cent deaf Travis.
“That's really incredible,” Trump remarked.
“He was 100 per cent deaf, but he took this miracle cure, and now he can hear his mom, Sierra, say, ‘I love you,’” the President celebrated.
Elaborating on how the Otarmeni drug helped her son heal, Sierra Smith later noted that the use of the drug, in conjunction with a surgery, gave him the ability to listen to music.
“He can listen to music, and he loves it; he loves to dance, and he loves instruments,” she said.
Later, the young boy started dancing in the Oval Office. He crawled in there and briefly lay facedown on the carpet before an adult picked up the youngster.
The Regeneron drug that helped Travis Smith regain his hearing is called Otarmeni.
FDA approves gene therapy for rare deafness
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave a green light to gene therapy to heal people born with rare deafness.
The decision, while only immediately affecting people born with a very rare form of genetic deafness, is being hailed as a milestone in the quest to treat hearing loss.
