'Trump fell asleep again': Rep. Yassamin Ansari questions President's fitness for office

President Donald Trump sparked fresh concerns about his fitness to be in office after he appeared to doze off multiple times in the Oval Office during a briefing on Thursday. During the announcement of his "Beautiful, Clean Coal" initiative, Trump let his eyes rest for a questionably prolonged blink, leading to Democrats, including Rep. Yassamin Ansari, calling for the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. 

At the event where Trump announced a near-billion-dollar cash injection to the coal industry, the President's eyes grew heavy as other people, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, spoke. Trump appeared to briefly doze off, lying back and to the side in his seat, leading to a picture that has now been widely shared. Taking to X, Ansari shared the image claiming Trump was unwell, and that "it's a national security crisis." "That's why I've called for the 25th Amendment, and dozens of my colleagues have done the same," she wrote. 

The incident reportedly occurred at a time when Wright spoke loudly while clutching Trump's chair. At some points, the President's head was turned away from the person speaking, while he shut his eyes for prolonged periods. "The Commander-in-Sleep clocks in," the official Democrats account wrote on X, mocking the President. 

Calls for the 25th Amendment, a process in which the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can declare a president unable to perform their duties, and remove him from office, intensified following Trump's threats to "wipe out a civilization" in the Middle East. Democrats have long called for it without success, as it needs support from Trump's own cabinet and Vice President J.D. Vance, who would assume the role if the measure goes through. Concerns about Trump's health have also grown as he took his fourth physical exam since taking office in late May.

Furthermore, the apparent dozing off came just a couple of days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio fiercely denied ever seeing the President sleeping during important meetings. Rubio had a heated exchange with Rep. Ted Lieu, who showed several clips of President Donald Trump allegedly dozing off during meetings. "You will see that he is sleeping while you are talking," the Democratic congressman said, asking Rubio to explain the behaviour.

The State Secretary chuckled, saying, "Oh my god," seemingly in disbelief, before refuting the claims. "That's false. I've never seen him fall asleep. On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep. Which is a big problem, because he calls me at 2 in the morning, he calls me at 5 in the morning, and you know, I like to sleep a little bit," he said. 

The same message was echoed by White House spokesperson Davis Ingle to The Daily Beast when asked about the incident. "President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history," he said. He then accused the publication's reporters of pushing baseless conspiracy theories, claiming, "President Trump is working around the clock to make our country greater than ever before."