WTF Is Going on With Trump's Hand? And why is no one asking him about it?

https://newrepublic.com/post/198037/donald-trump-hand-bruise-makeup

https://archive.ph/YzSKU


Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump was spotted sporting a poorly concealed bruise on his hand, and the White House has the weirdest excuse for why that is the case. While speaking to reporters outside the White House Tuesday evening before boarding Marine One, a cameraperson zoomed in on the president’s hand. A large patch of makeup that did not match Trump’s skin tone was clearly evident on the back of his hand.



No one asked Trump about it in the moment, but when asked later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Daily Beast that Trump was covering up a bruise from too much handshaking. “President Trump is a man of the people, and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other president in history,” Leavitt told the Beast. “His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day.”

This is neither the first time Trump has had a large bruise on the back of his right hand, nor the first time Leavitt has made this bizarre excuse. The bruise first appeared in spring 2024, and appears to pop back up every few months. Since taking office, Trump has been spotted with the bruise in at least February, April, and June. Trump was also spotted with scabbed red marks on the palm and fingers of his right hand in January 2024, sparking concerns that he had syphilis.

Leavitt made her initial claim about too much gladhanding after the February bruise appearance, when Trump tried to cover the blemish with makeup approximately the color of wet brown cardboard. Dr. Neal Patel, a primary care physician at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in California, told the Daily Mail in February that handshaking on its own was unlikely to have caused the bruising. “I see a lot of patients who are businessmen, and I’ve never really seen them getting bruising from too much handshaking,” he said. “I guess it’s possible, but that would really not be on my list of ideas of what causes it.”

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