President Donald Trump’s bruised right hand was on display Friday at a FIFA event in New York, uneven makeup and all.
Trump, 80, attended a reception at Trump Tower before the World Cup draws to a close this weekend. He is expected to attend Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then present the trophy to the winner.
Before then, though, Trump spoke about the sport—and made the obvious statement that speed is “quite important”—alongside FIFA president and pal Gianni Infantino. Trump touched on several games in this year’s tournament, as well as his involvement in having a U.S. player’s red card rescinded.
“You had unforgettable moments. Probably the most unforgettable is when they gave a gentleman—is it a red card? And I was forced to call Gianni and just make a recommendation… I said I’d like to wage a complaint,“ Trump said.
“It was so much better the way it worked out because there was no controversy,” he claimed.
Following Trump’s intervention, the U.S. team lost its round-of-16 game to Belgium, and controversy persisted.
Trump’s comments came less than 24 hours after he was seen with makeup on his hand during his election-related speech at the White House.
The White House has regularly attributed the bruising on the top of Trump’s right hand to frequent handshaking and his use of aspirin. Trump has been taking a higher-than-recommended dosage of the drug—325 milligrams daily—for the last 25 years to keep his blood thin, even though doctors have advised him to lower the dosage.
“I’m a little superstitious,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in January. “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
To compensate, he said he takes “about 10 seconds” to apply makeup.
Last July, the White House revealed that Trump suffers from chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition in older people that makes it more difficult for blood to return to the heart from the lower extremities. Swelling in the lower legs and ankles is one symptom Trump has often shown.
Trump acknowledged that he once tried compression socks, but didn’t like them. Instead, he said he has tried to avoid sitting for long periods.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously claimed that 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.”
