White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out a big problem with a New York Times story that claimed President Donald Trump is showing signs of fatigue in his second term.
The Times did make a pretty weak case, even acknowledging in the story that his international travel schedule has been more robust than the first year of his first term, with trips to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe — multiple times, in the case of the latter two.
Anyone who has traveled overseas knows that such a schedule can leave even young adults’ sleep rhythms confused and bodies zapped of some energy.
The Times noted that Trump, a week after returning from his Asia trip to Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea in October, could be seen nodding off a bit during an Oval Office event.
Again, that can happen to the most vigorous among us. Who knows? Maybe he had trouble sleeping the night before, or had to deal with some world event in the early morning hours.
President Donald Trump seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open during a roughly 20-minute stretch at an Oval Office event on drug-price cuts.
Sitting behind the Resolute Desk, Trump’s eyes repeatedly closed while his deputies took turns giving remarks. https://t.co/bBrgTWcULi pic.twitter.com/040BaDoleM
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 8, 2025
Leavitt addressed the Times story by first observing, “The fake news that we see pumped out of this building on a day-to-day basis — it’s honestly overwhelming to keep up with it all, and to constantly have to defend against the fake news and these attacks.”
Leavitt said the New York Times “took about one-third of [Trump’s] daily calendar and his daily schedule and said that he’s doing less than he did in his first term, or that he might not be fit for the job,” she added.
Karoline Leavitt torches the New York Times
The same reporter who wrote “Biden is doing 100% fine after tripping after boarding Air Force One” wrote that President Trump isn’t fit for the job. pic.twitter.com/vUAqMWzzmu
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) December 1, 2025
“That is unequivocally false, and it’s deeply unfortunate that this story was written by the same outlet and the same reporter who wrote this, ‘Biden is doing 100% fine after tripping while boarding Air Force One,’” Leavitt said while holding up a copy of the story.
The press secretary held up another Times story from November 2021 titled “Biden declared ‘healthy and vigorous’ after his first presidential physical.”
Both pieces were by Katie Rogers, who also co-wrote the outlet’s story saying Trump is slowing down.
“Are you kidding me?” Leavitt asked. “You all see him almost every single day. He is the most accessible president in history. He is taking meetings around the clock.”
A fact the Times cited is that from Jan. 20 to Nov. 25 during his first term, Trump did 1,688 official events versus 1,029 during his second term at the same point.
So that’s a little over 300 days in office, which means by the outlet’s numbers, the president averaged about five and a half official events per day during his first term versus three and a half during his second, which still sounds pretty active.
It is probably a common phenomenon for two-term presidents to lessen the number of official events over the time they are in office. There is a lot to do and a tone to set during the first year.
Working smarter hopefully replaces working more for anyone who holds such an executive position over time.
Leavitt’s right. This appears to be another fake news story by the Times, meant to generate doubt about Trump, but not grounded in anything that matters.
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