ON THE DEFENSIVE

Trump Aides Address His Mystery ‘Announcement’ After Intense Health Scrutiny

The president will make his first official public appearance in a week on Tuesday afternoon.

Donald Trump’s aides have provided clues about what the 79-year-old’s mystery Tuesday announcement will be following intense speculation about the president’s health and well-being.

Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Oval Office at 2 p.m., although the White House did not officially disclose what the announcement will be about.

The lack of details surrounding the announcement arrived after speculation surrounding Trump’s health went into overdrive over the weekend, including inaccurate suggestions on social media that the president is already dead. The rumors were fueled by the normally attention-loving Trump not making any official public appearances for nearly a week, on top of the long-running issues of Trump’s bruising on his hands, swollen cankles, and frequent concerns about the 79-year-old’s mental acuity.

However, aides for Trump—on course to be the oldest sitting president in U.S. history—shut down any suggestion that Tuesday’s announcement will be him delivering some shocking health news or saying he will be leaving office early. Instead, aides have told Politico’s White House reporter Megan Messerly that Trump’s address will be mainly focus on defense.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the report in a statement to CNN. “The president will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense,” Leavitt said.

While no further specifics were given, Tuesday’s announcement arrives as Trump has repeatedly threatened to punish Russia and President Vladimir Putin if Moscow doesn’t agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by a specific deadline.

The first deadline imposed by Trump passed Monday without any major breakthroughs, with Putin frequently ignoring Trump’s calls to end the killing of civilians in the now three-and-a-half-year conflict in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron even suggested on Friday that if no peace talks arrangements were made by Monday, then it would mean that “once again President Putin played President Trump.”

Also on Friday, Zelensky recalled Trump’s previous remarks that he would give Putin a week to agree to a meeting before considering new action against Moscow. “Two weeks will be on Monday. And we will remind everybody,” Zelensky said.

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Trump’s announcement on Tuesday will be his first official appearance in front of the world since his fawning Cabinet meeting on Aug. 26, which lasted more than three hours.

Since then, Trump has mainly been spotted via faraway shots as he heads to his golf course or rides in the back of his presidential limousine. Trump’s weary and drained expressions in these photos also helped spark rumors and concerns about the president’s health.

Trump was forced to address the speculation in a Sunday post on Truth Social, insisting in his usual all-caps style that he has “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”

That is despite the frequent appearances of bruises on his hands, which the president often tries to cover up with large patches of makeup. The 79-year-old has also made increasingly desperate attempts to hide his swollen ankles from view, a suspected symptom of the president’s Chronic Venous Insufficiency diagnosis, which the White House confirmed in July.

Vice President JD Vance inadvertently caused speculation last Thursday, by which point the president had been missing from view for two days, by stating he is prepared to take over the reins of the White House if there is a “terrible tragedy” involving Trump during his second term.

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The White did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from the Daily Beast.

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