It’s been weeks since Donald Trump‘s “bald eagle” claim, which left the public wondering whether he knows what a bald eagle even looks like. Well, a viral new post proves he does so, showing the president losing a fight he was never going to win in the first place. The moment unfolds qui ckly on camera, leaving him visibly rattled as the encounter slips out of his control. President Donald Trump loses control after getting spooked by a bald eagle in a now viral clip. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ‘His Face Said It All’: Donald Trump Gets Whacked In the Face By Mic During Press Conference, Leaving Fans In Tears Over Resurfaced Video Time magazine embarrassed Trump long before last year’s unflattering cover image and before he officially became president. During another previous shoot, he agreed to pose with an animal — only to end up in a face-off. The footage was captured during Trump’s 2015 photo shoot as the runner-up for Time’s Person of the Year, an honor that ultimately went to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with award-winning photographer Martin Schoeller behind the lens. During the shoot, which was filmed in Trump’s Manhattan office in Trump Tower, a massive bald eagle named Uncle Sam perches on Trump’s forearm, repeatedly angling its beak toward his face and trying to fly off, prompting Trump to pause and ask, “How does my hair look?” The setup later shifts to the eagle sitting on a desk behind Trump, but the tension spikes again when Trump reaches for an aspirin near the bird’s stand. Uncle Sam suddenly flaps and lunges, forcing Trump to recoil and step away as the handler moves in to regain control. Near the end of the footage, he can be heard calling the bird “seriously dangerous, but beautiful.” But that didn’t stop the jokes. View on Threads “The eagle almost knocked the wig off the hinges,” said one Threads user, while another added, “Oowee! That eagle almost knocked “that thang” right off! Baby that piece was fightin’ like Tyson. #justgorillaglueit.” Showing sympathy for the animal, one person said, “Poor eagle. Was forced into that situation. Did you notice? – His left wing is missing a major piece, so he is unable to fly. And it’s not just missing feathers.” That same clip was brought up when California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of Trump’s most prominent and outspoken Democratic foes, fired off a post aiming at the Republican’s most prized attribute: his cognition. The president proudly announced to the public that he “aced” a cognitive exam for a “third straight time, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take.” Repeating a familiar refrain from last month and framing the result like a grade-school victory lap rather than a routine doctor’s screening, Trump stated, “P.S., I strongly believe that anyone running for President, or Vice President, should be mandatorily forced to take a strong, meaningful, and proven Cognitive Examination. Our great Country cannot be run by ‘STUPID’ or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!” Trump is concerned about bald eagles; the only problem is that he has no idea what the raptor looks like. His critics were left howling with laughter when the president took yet another swing at wind turbines by raising an alarm for the formerly endangered species in a viral Truth Social post. He wrote, “Windmills are killing all of our beautiful bald eagles!” and attached a photo of a dead brownish-colored raptor. As people zoomed in, they noticed that the bird lacked the white head and tail, the large brown body, and the yellow beak characteristic of the adult versions of the United States’ national bird most people recognize. The gaffe resulted in a community note that reads, “The photo shows a falcon killed by a wind turbine in Israel in 2017, not a bald eagle in the US.” Trump peddled the misinformation to support his agenda to dismantle the use of renewable energy apparatus, but it backfired, instead making him the target of a new wave of ridicule. Gavin Newsom joined in on the jokes, writing, “Person, woman, man, camera, eagle,” to respectively label a stick figure, a teenage JD Vance, a muscular AI image of himself, a point-and-shoot camera, and, of course, Trump’s slain “bald eagle.” The post was a hit among fans. Trumps dementia test— Samuel Deegan (@samueldeegan) December 31, 2025 An X user responded, “Funny how he doesn’t know what a bald eagle looks like especially since he was scared sh–less by one.” Like several others, a follower commended Newsom’s press team for their “unseen levels of trolling.” When the public blunder circulated elsewhere, a user remarked, “He also doesn’t know the difference between windmills and wind turbines.” Someone else jokingly came to Trump’s defense when they wrote, “To be fair, they weren’t covered in his many cognitive tests.” IF ALL 350 MILLION AMERICANS LINED UP ACCORDING TO IQ, THE VERY LAST ONE WOULD BE IN THE WHITE HOUSE. https://t.co/TIocoGmVlT— Governor Newsom Press Office (parody) (@AwesomeNewsom) December 31, 2025 The businessman publicly confirmed that he has undergone multiple cognitive tests since his January 2025 inauguration. During a rally in North Carolina rally in early December, he boasted about his performance to supporters. He shared, “You get to those last questions, those last 10, 15 questions…and I aced them… The first question is like, ‘What is this?’ And they show a lion, a giraffe, a fish, and a hippopotamus. And they say, ‘Which is the giraffe?’” The 79-year-old has boasted about his mental sharpness, even comparing it favorably to that of 83-year-old Joe Biden. His jokes and deflection have done little to ease concerns about his age and stamina, instead highlighting the gap critics see between his confidence and his condition. ‘Eagle Almost Knocked the Wig Off’: Trump Unravels on Camera After Getting Slapped In Hilarious Clip That Has the Internet Hollering ...read more read less