A White House policy announcement is meant to be a masterpiece of political staging, a carefully rehearsed showcase of unity and focus. Yet, during an Oval Office event designed to formalise the rollback of key climate change regulations, former President Donald Trump visibly lost his bearings, struggling so fundamentally to keep track of his own political allies and invited business leaders that the event quickly descended into a spectacle of confusion.
The failure of the delicate choreography was immediate and profound. Yet the 79-year-old's public performance was instead marred by a string of startling gaffes, leading him to appear genuinely shocked by the presence of two key Republican figures standing right next to him.
