Donald Trump's Military Parade Might Have Even Bored the President to Sleep

At 79 years old, it's fair to say that President Donald Trump is probably quicker to tire than he once was. During his New York trial in 2024, reports suggested that the president fell asleep in court on more than one occasion. Now, videos are circulating that suggest that Trump, who held a military parade on his birthday this year in Washington, D.C., actually fell asleep at some point during the parade.

Given that the parade only existed because Trump was interested in it, it would be a little strange if he fell asleep in the middle of it. Here's what we know about whether that rumor is true.

Although some videos and posts online have suggested that Trump fell asleep during the parade, it doesn't look like that's actually the case. There are videos that seem to show Trump with his eyes closed, and while it's possible that he was asleep in those moments, his posture does not suggest that he was in a particularly deep sleep. The parade itself appears to have been sparsely attended and rather long, but there has been no confirmed reporting that the president fell asleep.

That being said, Trump and many of those who were watching the parade around him looked really bored for long stretches of it. Before the parade started, he offered his own rationale for celebrating the armed service people of America, explaining that he wanted to have the kind of military parade that is common in other countries.

"The Army keeps us free, you make us strong, and tonight you've made all Americans very proud," he said. "Every other country celebrates their victories. It's about time America did too. That's what we're doing tonight."

Trump has long harbored a desire to hold this kind of military parade, dating all the way back to his first administration. Now, that parade has been held, although it was overshadowed by several other major news events.

Although Trump's military parade was certainly something to behold, it was overshadowed by the tragic assassination of a former Minnesota Speaker of the House, as well as by massive protests in cities all across the country. Trump's team has claimed that 250,000 people attended the parade, but estimates suggest that the protests were attended by more like 5 million people. We also don't know if that 250,000 estimate is accurate.

We don't know whether Trump is planning to make these kinds of parades a yearly tradition, or whether this whole thing was a one-off. Next year is the 250th anniversary of the country's founding, though, so it seems likely that Trump will do something extravagant to mark the occasion.

If he does choose to host another parade, maybe he can be self-aware enough not to make the parade too long. After all, next time we have one of these things, he's likely to be 80 years old.