President Trump insists his health is “perfect,” saying images that appeared to show him falling asleep during meetings often just captured a moment when he blinked.

Mr. Trump, 79,  gave an “impromptu interview” to the Wall Street Journal after it “shared details about its reporting with the White House” concerning his health. 

Mr. Trump — the oldest man to assume the presidency — seemed annoyed that the paper had decided to investigate his health. “Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” Mr. Trump said. “My health is perfect.”

He told the paper that he starts his day early and works in the Oval Office until 7 p.m. The Journal said the president’s private calendar, which White House officials provided for the first 19 days of December, “included hundreds of meetings and phone calls with staff, CEOs, lawmakers and cabinet secretaries.”

Mr. Trump denied having fallen asleep during White House events despite having appeared to doze off during several events. During a Cabinet meeting last month, he told reporters that he is “sharper” than he was 25 years ago.

CNN reported that at times during that meeting, he closed his eyes for 10 to 15 seconds and appeared to be struggling to stay awake. But Mr. Trump said in those moments he was just closing his eyes, not sleeping, because it is “relaxing to me.”

“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”

Mr. Trump also sought to put to bed speculation about bruising that has been seen on his hands, telling the Journal that he takes a large dose of aspirin daily, which causes him to bruise easily. 

“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Mr. Trump said. “I  want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”

The Journal reported that he has “delicate skin,” and the president confirmed that, in 2024, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ring cut his hand. 

Mr. Trump said that he puts makeup on his hands after he gets “whacked again by someone.”

“I have makeup that’s, you know, easy to put on, takes about 10 seconds,” he added.

While Mr. Trump insisted his health is perfect, he said his only regular exercise is golf. 

“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” he said of exercising. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.” 

Mr. Trump and White House officials also addressed questions about an MRI the president reportedly received in October. Mr. Trump said later that he had received an MRI, but that he did not know which body part was scanned. 

“What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it,” he said. 

During his interview, he clarified to the Journal that the test was actually a CT scan. Mr. Trump’s doctor, Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, told the paper that the scan was done to “definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues,” and that it showed no abnormalities.