President Trump Mocks “Sleepy” Joe Biden & Then Falls Asleep In Front Of The World

Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe” on Monday, then appeared to doze off during the same Oval Office event.

Trump was announcing plans for a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa when he took another shot at his predecessor.

“Under sleepy Joe Biden, have you heard of him? Steel production declined significantly; nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the year before I took office,” Trump said, slurring his words.

Later, as Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke, Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk with his eyes closed and his head dipping toward an open binder.

The contrast was hard to miss because Trump has spent years using Biden’s energy and alertness as political punchlines. AllHipHop covered a similar moment in August, when Trump appeared to drift off as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at another White House event.

Trump has previously rejected the suggestion that closing his eyes during official events means he is actually sleeping. After an earlier Cabinet meeting drew scrutiny, he told officials, “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell outta here. I didn’t sleep, by the way. I don’t sleep much.”

Monday’s ceremony also brought a major steel proposal, even as the footage of Trump drew attention online.

Mesabi Metallics plans to build the Iowa mill using iron ore from its Minnesota mine, according to the company’s plans and White House figures. Officials project 1,750 permanent jobs and as many as 6,000 construction jobs, with the first steel production expected in 2030.

Trump called the proposal “a tremendous investment” and said, “Our steel industry is roaring back to life.”

India’s Essar Group owns the company, while the administration has promoted the project as a boost for American manufacturing. That economic pitch shared the stage Monday with an image Trump’s Biden nickname made especially easy to circulate.