Donald Trump appeared noticeably tired during a White House roundtable on Wednesday, where he met with conservative influencers to discuss the anti-fascist movement known as antifa. The 79-year-old president has long accused antifa of “carrying out a campaign of violence” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The event took place as his administration reportedly considered invoking the Insurrection Act to allow military support for ICE operations in major Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and Portland. Trump has already ordered the Illinois National Guard to deploy, despite objections from Governor JB Pritzker, who has since filed a lawsuit.
California Governor Gavin Newsom quickly mocked the president’s appearance. “Dozy Don is back!” Newsom’s office wrote on X in all caps, adding, “Too much ‘Tylenol??’” On his personal account, Newsom added, “Honestly thought this was a still image when I first started watching.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded in a statement to The Daily Beast. “President Trump just secured the biggest peace deal, while Gavin Newsom is beclowning himself. He’ll never be President.” Protests against ICE have taken place in cities across the country, but it remains unclear whether any demonstrators were connected to antifa.
Still, Trump stood by his claim that the group represents a “terror threat,” echoing his recent executive order labeling antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. “It should be clear to all Americans that we have a very serious left-wing terror threat in our country—radicals associated with the domestic terror group antifa that you’ve heard a lot about lately, and I’ve heard a lot about them for 10 years,” Trump said.
The president was joined by top administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and FBI Director Kash Patel. The panel also featured conservative commentators Nick Sortor, Andy Ngo, Jack Posobiec, and Brandi Kruse. Trump appeared drowsy at times, particularly during Ngo’s remarks.
Reports from inside the administration have described Trump’s unusual sleep habits. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News last month that Trump “doesn’t have an off switch.” “Sometimes the president will call you at 12:30 or 2:00 in the morning, and then he’ll call you at 6:00 in the morning about a totally different topic,” Vance said. “It’s like, ‘Mr. President, did you go to sleep last night?”
Bondi echoed that sentiment on Katie Miller’s podcast. “None of us can keep up with him; we always joke… I don’t know how he does it. I mean, none of us know when he sleeps. He’s working all the time, and it’s just constant for him.” CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins added that an aide once told her Trump stays awake on long Air Force One flights.
“He doesn’t sleep on these trips,” she said. “He’ll have them go and wake staff up if they’re asleep because he wants to talk to them.” According to the National Institute on Aging, adults of Trump’s age need at least seven hours of sleep each night.