The bruised right hand of U.S. President Donald Trump is visible during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump had two public events on Monday morning, and for the first time, makeup wasn't covering the bruises on his hands. What it revealed was a shock to those who saw the dark purple on his right hand, while his left appears to be healing.
During the Oval Office event, Trump's right hand was visible, showing it was veiny and dark. By the second event of the day, a press availability with the South Korean President, Trump's right hand looked more swollen, and close photos show it to be scaly and dry. His left hand bruise is still a dark brownish-yellow.
It prompted questions and comparisons to attacks from the right about former President Joe Biden's health, which became an obsession of Fox News after the Democrat broke his foot and it never healed properly, leading him to suffer from neuropathy.
"WTF WITH TRUMP'S HAND? IS TRUMP DYING, OR IS HE JUST FINE? And why doesn't the media fixate on HIS health crisis 1% as much as it did and still does about Biden's?" asked Keith Olbermann, political commentator.
"Not smart enough to keep his right hand IV/blood draw contusion hidden ALL the time today," Olbermann later added.
"Yikes. The American people deserve answers about what’s going on with Trump’s hand," exclaimed the group Republicans Against Trump on X.
"They want us to believe that Trump has bruises on BOTH HANDS from handshaking with his right hand, but his ear healed so perfectly after being shot that there was NO SIGN of it within weeks. Got it," host David Pakman wrote on X.
"If Joe Biden’s hand had looked like this, Jake Tapper would’ve written an entire book about it," remarked producer Bryan Behar.
Kim Leclerc, a Canadian public affairs expert, questioned whether Trump has a problem with a horcrux, a "Harry Potter" reference that recalls the villain Lord Voldemort, who split pieces of his soul and interred them in objects. A horcrux in the form of a ring turned Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's hand black until he learned how to destroy it. Lecleric posted a photo of Dumbledore's hand as it began to turn, and the curse spread down his fingers and into his hand.
"Yikes….so that’s what it looks like without that hand makeup," the influencer account WuTangKids wrote.
One woman quipped, "America is not in good hands."
Podcaster Brian Allen noted the Biden comparison, too.
"Trump’s hand is visibly bruised. He hides it, then shows it, then hides it again. If Biden had a mark like that, Fox would be halfway through a 6-part documentary and Congress would’ve subpoenaed his doctor by lunch," Allen wrote on X. "But when it’s Trump? Crickets. Transparency doesn’t get to take a vacation just because the bruise is red. Any health expert wants to weigh in on this? I've been hearing that it's CHF (Congestive Heart Failure)."