Staffer hides from ‘prowling’ Trump, who insists this basic human function makes them ‘weak’

A top-ranking White House official has revealed that he conceals his naps on Air Force One so that Trump won’t think he’s “weak.” This comes amid widespread speculation about the president’s health as he’s often caught with his eyes closed in meetings. However, the staffer also claimed that Trump never sleeps.

Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed these details in an interview with New York magazine. On Air Force One, Rubio said, “There’s an office with two couches, and I usually want to sleep on one of those two couches. But what I do is I cocoon myself in a blanket.” He added,”I cover my head. I look like a mummy.”

Rubio said he does that because he knows at some point Trump will “prowl” the hallways of the plane, checking for people who are asleep. Rubio said he hides his naps because he doesn’t want Trump to think he’s “weak.”

Late-night posts and dozing in meetings

In the same profile, Trump, 79, addressed occurrences in which cameras have captured him with his eyes shut during official meetings. Asked about these moments, he pushed back against suggestions of napping or fatigue, calling Cabinet meetings “boring as hell.” Trump explained that he sometimes closes his eyes or leans back, not because he’s tired, but because the meetings can stretch for hours and he’s listening in his own way.

“I’m going around a room, and I’ve got 28 guys — the last one was three and a half hours,” he told the magazine. “I have to sit back and listen, and I move my hand so that people will know I’m listening. I’m hearing every word, and I can’t wait to get out.”

Trump’s social media habits may also prove Rubio right. In previous months, the president has made headlines for marathon posting sessions on Truth Social in the small hours, fueling discussion about his personal schedule and how rest fits (or doesn’t) fit into it.

What kind of boss won’t let you sleep?

Questions about Trump’s health aren’t new, but they’ve persisted through his second term. Public focus on his age and physical condition has been amplified by moments captured on camera, leading observers and commentators to speculate — sometimes wildly — about what it means.

While supporters and some officials insist the president’s stamina and fitness are strong, critics highlight the optics of bruised hands, eye closures during official events, and an intense, irregular sleep pattern that includes both brief rest and extended online engagement late into the night.

For Rubio, the pressure to hide something as basic as sleep — even on long flights between diplomatic destinations — speaks to a broader workplace culture inside the White House. Even for someone as important as the Secretary of State, needing rest is universal. That it becomes something to conceal reveals an environment where vulnerability, even in the form of a nap, is treated as a liability rather than a human necessity.