President Donald Trump faced renewed public scrutiny over his health after viral video clips from a White House meeting with technology executives appeared to show the president with a drooping facial expression and slurred words while discussing energy policy tied to the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence industry.
The meeting, held in Washington on Wednesday, brought together senior leaders from companies including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, OpenAI, and SpaceX. The administration had invited the executives to endorse a policy pledge intended to prevent rising electricity costs as the surge in AI data-center construction places unprecedented demand on the U.S. power grid.
Instead of focusing solely on the policy initiative, however, online attention quickly shifted to Trump's appearance and speech during the event.
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar circulated one widely viewed clip from the meeting on the social platform X, writing: "Trump's face is drooping and his eyes are closed."
The video showed the president seated with his head angled downward while other participants spoke. Within minutes the footage spread widely across social media platforms, prompting commentary from both critics and supporters.
Some viewers interpreted the images as evidence that Trump appeared fatigued or disengaged during a meeting he had convened. Others suggested the footage could simply reflect camera angles or a brief moment in which the president was resting his eyes.
As Trump began addressing the group, viewers dissected portions of his remarks frame by frame, pointing to moments where his speech appeared hesitant or uneven.
During one segment discussing electricity costs, Trump stumbled over the phrase "electric bills," according to clips shared online. Later, while introducing an executive from Oracle, Trump appeared to struggle briefly with the pronunciation of the executive's surname before asking the room if he had said it correctly.
The meeting itself centered on a pledge by technology companies to help finance power generation and grid upgrades needed to support the AI sector's expanding energy consumption.
According to the White House, the companies agreed to:
- "Build, bring, or buy" new power generation capacity to support AI infrastructure
- Fund transmission and delivery upgrades needed to support new data centers
- Avoid passing infrastructure costs onto household electricity bills
Participants in the room included:
- Ruth Porat, president of Google
- Brad Smith, president of Microsoft
- Dina Powell McCormick, president of Meta
- Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services
- Clay Magouyrk, CEO of Oracle
- Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer of OpenAI
- Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX
The event unfolded against the backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions. The United States and Israel are engaged in ongoing military operations targeting Iran, with the conflict entering its fifth day at the time of the meeting.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that "America is winning," adding that within less than a week the U.S. and Israel "will have complete control of Iranian skies."
Hegseth also emphasized the durability of the campaign, saying the United States could continue operations "for as long as we need to."
