He’s rarely seen showing signs of age — but President Donald Trump looked noticeably senior this weekend as he was spotted wearing reading glasses in the back seat of a blacked-out SUV.
The notoriously image-conscious president, 79, was snapped looking down into his lap with black-rimmed glasses on his head while departing Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia this weekend.
He was wearing a white golf shirt and a cream ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball hat while sitting in the back seat of the presidential Chevrolet Suburban.
The president had been playing a round of golf with CIA Director John Radcliffe and Senators Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, and Eric Schmitt.
At 79, Trump is the oldest president ever elected – and is set to become the oldest sitting president by the end of his term in 2028.
Yet he is seldom seen showing his age in public.
Reading glasses are common for people the president’s age — 80 percent of people over 50 need them — but this was one of only a few instances in which President Trump has been seen with them.
In 2016, he put on glasses during a stump speech to read lyrics from ‘The Snake’ by Al Wilson in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Trump (pictured) was spotted wearing reading glasses, a rarity for him
Trump last wore glasses publicly in 2016 when he read the lyrics to ‘The Snake’ by Al Wilson in a speech
In a handful of rare paparazzi and amateur shots, eagle-eyed photographers captured Trump with eyewear during his first term in 2017. But this is the only instance so far in his second.
According to a 2019 report from The New York Times, Trump preferred not to use his phone to create posts in public, because he didn’t like to wear the glasses he needed to see his screen.
Media outlets have speculated about Trump’s eyesight in the past. Vice reported in 2016, that many Americans noticed the president constantly squinting and straining his eyes, which are common to compensate for blurry vision.
Americans online reacted to the photos, some of them empathetic to see someone in their late seventies in glasses, while others poked fun at the sitting president.
One person defended him and said: ‘He’s worn glasses before, not the first time. During his rallies long time ago he did.’
Another sarcastically replied: ‘You mean to tell me that an 80-year-old man needs reading glasses? Truly shocking.’
But several joked about the president’s literacy altogether: ‘I didn’t know he could read….’
Trump (pictured) has only been seen wearing glasses a couple of times during his two presidential terms
The presidential motorcade was seen escorting Trump from Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
