When South Korea's President Lee Jae-Myung was welcomed to the White House this week, it was clear: the 79-year-old president's right hand had a fairly large bruise on the top. In pictures from the Oval Office taken a few days earlier, the hand was heavily made up with foundation in a tone that did not entirely match the president's own.
The pictures quickly went viral and sparked speculation in political USA. Has the president been affected by a skin disease? Or is he receiving drops through an infusion in his hand?
Works "all the time"
When similar pictures were published in February, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the speculation by saying that Trump meets many people.
"President Trump has bruises on his hand because he works all the time and shakes hands all day every day," she said in a statement to NBC News.
Trump's doctor, Sean Barbarella, also wrote in a memo in July that the bruise is due to "minor soft tissue irritation caused by frequent handshaking" in combination with taking acetylsalicylic acid for preventive purposes, notes USA Today.
Swollen legs
In the same text, the doctor stated that the president, the oldest to take office, has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). It is a relatively common condition among people over 70 years old that affects blood circulation in the veins and can lead to swelling, pain, and ulcers on the legs.
During the summer, Donald Trump's hand has often been made up, as when Trump met the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland at the end of July.
The White House has not commented on the latest pictures of the bruises.
