Normally, a 79-year-old man having a bruise on his hand wouldn’t be much of a story. But that changes when the septuagenarian in question is Donald Trump.

Trump’s injury was first spotted weeks after the 2024 election, which he won in part by bullying Joe Biden for his decrepitude while pretending he himself possessed almost superhuman health and mental acuity. For months, the White House dismissed Trump’s bruising as one of those hand-shaking injuries you’re always hearing about. Then when Trump’s terrible hand makeup and swollen ankles raised too many questions, the administration admitted he has a condition known as chronic venous insufficiency.

Yet questions about Trump’s health, and his bizarrely terrible attempts to conceal his physical issues, have persisted. Here’s a guide, which we’ll keep updated, to everything we know about Trump’s health and how the White House is handling his illness.

How long has Trump had this hand bruise?

It’s been spotted on and off since at least the spring of 2024, but the bruise first drew widespread attention on February 24, 2025, when Trump hosted French president Emmanuel Macron at the White House. A Getty photographer zoomed in on Trump’s hand and noted in the caption that it looked as though he’d put makeup on his hand to cover a bruise.

The bruising appeared again in April and May and was spotted frequently, despite Trump’s attempts to conceal it, throughout the summer of 2025.

What did Trump say about the bruise?

Though it largely went unnoticed at the time, a March 2024 Washington Examiner profile featured then-candidate Trump showing off a hand bruise, which was presented as the result of overly vigorous handshaking:

At the end of his remarks, Trump walked along a rope line on his way out of the room. He shook hand after hand, but rather than a simple handshake, some excited admirers would grasp his hand so heartily, and squeeze so hard, that Trump had to pull back to move on to the next person. Near the end of the line, one woman seized Trump’s hand so vigorously that a Secret Service agent had to deliver a sort of mini karate chop — nothing violent, just a firm tap — to break up the one-sided embrace.

As we walked back to the terrace to resume dinner, I asked Trump, “Weren’t you once famously a germaphobe?”

“In this business, you just have to get over it,” he said. He held out his right hand and showed that the back was covered by a large, greenish bruise. There were also marks left by female admirers with carefully manicured nails. It happened all the time, he said.

Trump offered the same explanation when asked about the mark on his hand in his Time “Person of the Year” interview, conducted in late November 2024:

Sitting under bright lights for a 30-minute photo session ahead of a 65-minute interview, he’s asked to explain the bruising on his right hand. “It’s from shaking hands with thousands of people,” he says.

How did the White House explain Trump’s hand bruising?

For months, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly said it was a totally normal — nay, heroic — hand-shaking injury. In response to questions following the Macron meeting, she told Fox News Digital:

President Trump is a man of the people, and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other president in history … His commitment is unwavering, and he proves that every single day.

Leavitt gave a similar explanation to NBC News, adding, “President Trump has bruises on his hand because he’s constantly working and shaking hands all day every day.”

Is Trump’s bruise always in the same place?

The large bruise and noticeable makeup splotches are always on the back of Trump’s right hand. However, a discoloration on the back of Trump’s left hand was briefly visible in a video of the president golfing with Roger Clemens on August 23, which posted by the Major League Baseball player’s son, Kacy.

How long has Trump been putting makeup on his hand?

It’s impossible to say. If he or his handlers ever did a good job applying the makeup, we would have no way of knowing.

While observers accused Trump of using hand makeup at the Macron meeting in February, the bruising was still very visible. By early summer, he was regularly appearing in public with obvious blotches of unblended makeup on the back of his hand. A C-SPAN cameraman zoomed in on the odd mark while Trump talked to reporters outside the White House on July 15:

Although the White House has professional makeup artists at its disposal, Trump kept appearing with poorly applied concealer. Here are just a few examples from July 24:

What’s going on with Trump’s ankles?

Trump showed up for the FIFA Club World Cup Final in New Jersey on July 13 with noticeably swollen ankles:

Days after this, coupled with another blotchy hand-makeup sighting that sparked a new round of questioning about Trump’s health, the White House revealed Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency.

Since then, he has appeared at various events with swollen-looking ankles, including his August 15 meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska:

What happened with those red mark on Trump’s hand?

On January 17, 2024., months before the hand bruise was first spotted, Trump showed up to E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation trial with bright red marks on his right hand. This sparked wild speculation about what health condition might have caused the splotches. But when Trump appeared at a rally in New Hampshire hours later, the blister-like marks were not longer visible.

When asked about the marks two weeks later, Trump said, “maybe it’s AI.”

How did Trump reveal his chronic-venous-insufficiency diagnosis?

After repeating the same dubious claims about the president’s hand-shaking injuries for months, Team Trump uncharacteristically gave in and offered an actual health update at a June 17 press conference.

“I know that many in the media have been speculating about bruising on the president’s hand and also swelling in the president’s legs,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “So in the effort of transparency, the president wanted me to share a note from his physician with all of you today.”

Leavitt then read a note from Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella.

“In recent weeks, President Trump noted mild swelling in his lower legs,” the note said. “In keeping with routine medical care and out of an abundance of caution, this concern was thoroughly evaluated by the White House Medical Unit.”

Barbabella continued: “The President underwent a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies. Bilateral lower extremity venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in inpiduals over the age of 70. Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or arterial disease.”

Trump underwent several other tests and his results were normal, the doctor said. “No signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness were identified.”

As for the bruising, Barbabella said, “This is consistent with minor soft-tissue irritation from frequent hand shaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen.”

The note concluded: “SUMMARY: President Trump remains in excellent health.”