DISCLAIMER: This article was first published on November 7, 2025
It was an eventful morning in the Oval Office on Thursday morning.
The president was hosting an event to announce a deal with drug manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to lower the cost of GLP-1 drugs for Medicare recipients and some other Americans.
HEALTH EMERGENCY IN THE OVAL OFFICE: Someone just collapsed during a press conference in the Oval Office, unveiling lower prices on GLP-1 medications. It looks like it may have been a HHS official. pic.twitter.com/1qI1ipRhYQ
— PoliticsForHer (@Politics4Her) November 6, 2025
But then, during the event at the White House, a man attending the ceremony fainted. That man was first identified in multiple media reports as a certain Novo Nordisk executive. Still, ABC News later quoted a company representative as stating that the man was not one of their executives.
“CEO Mike Doustdar and EVP, US Operations, Dave Moore were the only two Novo Nordisk representatives in the Oval Office. We hope the gentleman who suffered a medical incident today is okay,” the statement from the drug company said. Another report described the man who fainted as a patient who uses one of the GLP-1 drugs.
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Much notice was paid to how the people in the room behaved. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a medical doctor and Medicare administrator, rushed to aid the man, while HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was seen heading in the opposite direction.
The president, meanwhile, stood over the man as doctors attended to him.
“Trump slowly got up from where he was seated at his desk and looked on as others laid the man out on the ground. He continued to stand nearby watching quietly,” The Daily Beast reported.
Moments later, the president was photographed standing up and facing the camera as the medical incident was being dealt with behind him. Snapped by a Getty photographer, it’s been called “the defining photograph” of Trump’s presidency.
This may be the defining photograph of Donald Trump’s presidency. (via Getty) pic.twitter.com/nTGbIZ0wtk
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) November 6, 2025
Other posted reactions to the photo:
There is a distinction between remaining calm and being indifferent during a crisis.
What I see is a fucking asshole. https://t.co/jDEklTPGha
— TKo தியாகோ (@tktwitts) November 6, 2025
Definitely a Grand Prize for the World Press Photography award. Extraordinary depth and relevance. As a photographer, I love the immediacy and symbolism . Kudos to the Getty photographer. https://t.co/LRdOYCeCnn
— SteveF☮️⚖️PNW🇨🇦 (@smf323) November 7, 2025
Is it possible that Trump is just spacing out oblivious to the others? Was he aware of how he was acting? He looks like he was in a different reality… https://t.co/u6KOsfdnkt
— PERRY MOORE (@perryavw) November 6, 2025
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
