TAKING THE LONG ROUTE

Trump, 80, Zigzags His Way to Air Force One

The White House insisted the president’s veering course was actually “perfect.”

President Donald Trump charted a veering course across the tarmac from Marine One to Air Force One before his flight to Nebraska on Monday.

At Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the 80-year-old president disembarked from the helicopter, carefully descended the stairs without incident, and saluted the Marines at the foot of the steps—something he forgot to do last month.

But from there, Trump did not take the most direct path to his waiting aircraft. He drifted left immediately, then corrected back to a straight line. That only lasted a second or two before he veered left again for a few steps, then walked straight ahead. Moments later, he took one big step to the right before rerouting back to his left. The service member beside him had to mirror his movements to maintain the appropriate distance.

Toward the end of the walk, Trump tapped the outside of his leg with his right hand—a movement he has made before, and one that has spurred questions about his health.

Trump did not take questions from the press before boarding Air Force One.

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Trump’s indirect walking paths have also drawn interest.

In June, while returning to Washington from New York for an NBA Finals game, he zigzagged across the tarmac, while also making that curious tap of the leg.

Last August, Trump took a veering route down the red carpet during his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When reached for comment, the White House insisted that Trump’s walk on Monday was actually “perfect.”

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“You must be blind or stupid, because that was a perfect walk,” said spokesperson Davis Ingle.

Ingle, 32, is a communications graduate of Florida’s Southeastern University, where his father, Kent Ingle, is president. SEU boasts that more than two-thirds of its students attend online or through extension courses at 200 “partner sites,” which do not have to be accredited.

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“The only thing veering is the Daily Beast’s relevancy—right off a cliff,” added White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, three days after our launch of a 24/7 YouTube stream of The Daily Beast Podcast, which almost immediately drew more viewers than the White House’s much-hyped “Trump TV.”

Online, critics still called out the president.

“Trump isn’t beating the ‘can’t walk in a straight line’ allegations,” progressive media analyst Aaron Rupar wrote on X.

Trump’s movements have drawn negative attention even when he has stood still. While addressing reporters outside the White House last week, his left leg appeared awkwardly twisted in relation to his torso. The White House did not respond at the time.

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