Trump jokes cabinet meeting ‘got pretty boring,’ denies nodding off

WASHINGTON,DC: President Donald Trump leaned into criticism and memes surrounding his last Cabinet meeting on Thursday, joking that the session “got pretty boring” while firmly rejecting claims that he had nodded off during the proceedings.

Opening the latest Cabinet meeting, Trump addressed the moment head-on, explaining why he planned to limit how many officials would speak this time around.

He noted that the previous meeting stretched on for hours and drew online attention for all the wrong reasons.

“We’re not going to go through the whole table,” Trump said, explaining that the last press-heavy Cabinet session lasted nearly three hours.

“Some people said, ‘He closed his eyes.’ Look, it got pretty boring.”

The president acknowledged that while he values his Cabinet members, lengthy meetings can drag on.

'I didn’t sleep', Trump says

Trump was quick to clarify that he was not asleep during the prior meeting, despite viral clips and commentary suggesting otherwise.

“I didn’t sleep,” he insisted. “I just closed my eyes because I wanted to get the hell out of here.”

He added that he rarely sleeps much in general and joked that a brief moment of closed eyes had been misinterpreted.

“They got me in a blink,” Trump said, mimicking the motion. “You know, when you go like that, and they caught the closed segment of my cycle, and they said, ‘He’s sleeping!’”

The president also pointed to the Cabinet members seated near him, suggesting that if he truly had dozed off, someone would have noticed.

“If I was sleeping, they’d be waking me up,” Trump said, joking that aides would have nudged him and told him to get back to work.

He defended his habit of allowing extended discussions in front of reporters, saying transparency has been a defining feature of his administration.

At the same time, he acknowledged that not every moment of those meetings makes for compelling viewing.

“We’ve had great meetings,” Trump said, adding that he enjoys hearing from his team but would be more selective going forward.

Rather than letting every person speak at length, Trump said he would call on only a handful of people to speak during the meeting.

Viral scrutiny follows previous meet

The president’s comments come after footage from the earlier Cabinet meeting circulated widely on social media, with many speculating about his alertness during the long session.

On December 2 last year Trump appeared to be fighting sleep during a cabinet meet visibly closing eyes and sleeping in the middle of discussions.

During the meet, that lasted two hours and 18 minutes, Trump struggled to remain awake and speak to officials. 

Later, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary had reportedly clarified that the president was “listening attentively” during the meeting.