Fact check: Video of Donald Trump snoozing, hitting his head during White House meeting is doctored

Multiple users across social media platforms were sharing a video on Friday claiming it shows United States President Donald Trump falling asleep and hitting his head on his desk in the White House. However, the clip is doctored.

On Thursday, Trump held a healthcare affordability event in the Oval Office at the White House. During the event, he announced a deal with pharma giant Regeneron to lower drug prices. After the announcement, Trump took questions from reporters on numerous topics, including the firing of former navy secretary John Phelan, the timeline for the Iran conflict, and the upcoming state visit from King Charles.

Questions have been raised about Trump’s health since last year, with him repeatedly dozing off during live events. The focus on Trump’s health sharpened in late November 2025 after a New York Times article said he had sharply reduced his public events, domestic travel, and working hours compared to his first term. He is due to turn 80 in June.

How it started

On Friday, an account on X that often posts anti-Trump visuals shared a video showing the US president falling asleep and hitting his head on a desk during an event at the White House.

The caption of the post read: “Breaking: President Trump dozes off during live Healthcare Affordability Event - banging his head on the resolute desk with such force, that he knocks himself out cold.”

The post gained 3.3 million views.

Another social media user, who has a history of sharing AI-generated content, shared the same video on Instagram with the following caption: “Breaking: President Trump dozes off during live Healthcare Affordability Event - banging his head on the resolute desk with such force, that he knocks himself out cold.”

The post gained 264,000 views.

The same account shared the same clip with the same caption on Facebook, gaining 99,000 views.

A podcaster, based on its bio, posted the same clip with the following caption: “Is Trump okay?”

The post gained 120,000 views.

The same video was also widely shared by other users on X and can be seen here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Methodology

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in Trump, particularly amid ongoing geopolitical tensions linked to the US-Iran conflict.

Inspecting the video revealed several inconsistencies. Firstly, it can be observed that none of the speakers or any personnel in the room react to Trump audibly hitting his head or even glance in his direction — an atypical reaction considering he is the US president.

There is also a time lag present between him hitting his head and the sound of the thud. It can also be seen that his head lands on the desk at a slow pace and does not hit it hard. Considering that, the sound of the thud is louder than what a normal head being placed on a desk would sound like.

Lastly, visual artifacting is also present in Trump’s left hand from the four-second mark, where clear distortion can be seen as it slips away from the armrest.

A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any credible US or international media outlets had reported that President Trump fell unconscious during the event or hit his head; however, no such reports were found.

A reverse image search was conducted to trace the source of the viral clip to corroborate it, yielding the original video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of The White House on Thursday, titled: “President Trump Participates in a Health Care Affordability Event.”

The viral clip was taken from the 27:03–27:23 mark of the original 1:07:07-long event, during remarks by Chris Klomp, director of the Centre for Medicare.

A review of the complete video confirms that while the same visual setting and the statements from Klomp match the viral clip, at no point in the original video does Trump doze off on the table, hit his head or lose consciousness, as claimed in the viral posts.

Additionally, the viral clip was analysed using AI detection tools. SORA AI video detector flagged the video with a 66.67 per cent probability of AI generation.

Deepware AI indicated a 52pc likelihood of manipulation.

A keyword search also yielded a news report by Reuters, which reported on the April 23, 2026, healthcare affordability meeting at the White House. The report confirmed that the event focused on policy discussions around reducing healthcare costs and improving affordability, with no mention of any such incident involving the president.

Some outlets and users did say that he dozed off at times during the speeches by other speakers, but no credible source mentioned him hitting his head on his desk.

Fact-check status: False

The claim that a viral video shows President Donald Trump dozing off and hitting his head on his White House desk is false.

The viral clip is doctored, and nothing of the sort occurred.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.