‘That Man Is Out COLD’: Trump Fights to Keep His Eyes Open at Big Event, Snaps Awake to Tear Into Democrat, Then Claims a Win He Never Had
President Donald Trump opened the Oval Office doors on Monday to show off what he called a historic win for American workers. But by the end of the afternoon, hardly anyone was talking about the win.
Cameras caught the president, who looked like he was losing a fight with his own eyelids. It’s become a familiar sight, coming just days after he appeared to drift off while Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at the White House.
But the drowsy stretch wasn’t even the strangest part of the event. Before it wrapped, Trump had insulted a sitting governor, mocked a rival for the exact thing he was doing on camera, and revived an election claim the numbers have never backed up.
On paper, the occasion was a big one. According to CBS News, Trump announced that Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel plant in eastern Iowa, which the White House is calling the largest in American history.
It isn’t expected to produce steel until 2030, but officials say it will eventually turn out 10 million tons a year and support 1,750 permanent jobs.
“I love Iowa. I won Iowa every time,” Trump said, surrounded by Iowa Republicans facing competitive races less than 40 days before the midterms.
Then he reached for one of his favorite punchlines. “Sleepy Joe Biden, have you heard of him?” Trump asked the room.
It didn’t take long for the joke to turn on him. Footage shared by journalist Aaron Rupar shows Trump slumped behind the Resolute Desk, chin sinking toward the open binder in front of him, eyes shut while a man at his shoulder kept right on talking.
The 80-year-old, the oldest person ever sworn in as president, had already found the energy to go after somebody else. The plant will run on iron ore from Mesabi’s new $2.5 billion mine in Minnesota, and Trump couldn’t mention the state without swinging at its Democratic governor, Tim Walz.
“They have one of the worst governors in history, a real stupid guy, but they do have good iron ore, which is more important, I guess,” he said.
Later, turning to a guest, he brought Walz up again. “How is the governor treating you, because I freed up the iron ore,” Trump asked, before insisting he “absolutely won the election, but they cheat like hell,” an apparent reference to Minnesota. When someone mentioned being in the state about 10 days earlier to launch the mine, Trump mused, “We can supersede the state, right?”
None of that holds up well. Minnesota hasn’t backed a Republican for president since Richard Nixon in 1972, and Trump lost it in 2016, 2020, and again in 2024, when he fell short by more than 4 points. As for the ore, the August executive order Walz signed targets copper and nickel mining near the Boundary Waters, not iron.
Online, the Biden jab aged in record time.
“That man is out COLD,” one person wrote.
“MAGA, I need you to take this in. The very thing y’all clowned Joe Biden for, your boy is doing in real time,” another said.
A third predicted, “Republicans will look at you in the face and say this is the hardest-working, high-energy president we’ve ever had.”
“‘So much winning’ the whole country needs a nap,” one joked.
Others zeroed in on the insult. “He’s not talking about someone being Stupid is he… smh,” one reply read.
The announcement itself loses some shine on a closer look. Mesabi Metallics is owned by India’s Essar Group, and the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency, will provide up to $10 billion in financing, meaning taxpayers are helping foot the bill, The Guardian reported.
The Minnesota mine took roughly two decades to get off the ground, surviving Essar Steel Minnesota’s 2016 bankruptcy along the way. CNBC also pointed out that Trump once hailed Foxconn’s $10 billion Wisconsin factory as “the eighth wonder of the world” before the company cut its planned investment to $672 million.
The politics may be shakier than Trump let on, too. He told Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP’s Iowa Senate hopeful, that he’d seen “good polls,” but a recent Marist survey had her trailing Democrat Josh Turek by eight points.
As for the nodding off, this is well-worn territory. Earlier this month, his eyes kept sliding shut during a Sept. 18 Oval Office victory lap as guests took turns praising him.
The White House keeps waving it off. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted he’s never seen Trump fall asleep, and Trump himself has claimed he’s merely “resting his eyes.”
He can keep calling Biden “Sleepy Joe.” The cameras keep telling a different story.
Him falling alseep while his Secretary of Energy is speaking…..
https://t.co/4l8crVFZsE
— Covie (@covie_93) September 28, 2026
