For not the first time, Donald Trump appeared to struggle to keep his eyes open during a campaign rally in Florida.

The 80-year-old US president was speaking to supporters in Daytona Beach on Friday ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections when he paused to dab at his eye.

He dipped a napkin into a cup of water before wiping his face and then telling the crowd: ‘Ah, that’s so much better.’

Trump went on to joke about needing eye drops, saying: ‘I wish I had little eye drops.’

He then took aim at critics who have questioned his health after he initially cancelled planned campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa.

‘If I did, they’d say I was seriously ill, that there’s something wrong with me,’ he said.

The two events were later reinstated, with Trump now expected to visit both states on Sunday.

This comes after Trump blamed boredom, not sleep, for closing his eyes during a Cabinet meeting earlier this year.

‘Some people said, he closed his eyes. Look, it got pretty boring,’ Trump told laughing officials in the White House Cabinet Room on January 29.

He also added: ‘I didn’t sleep, by the way. I don’t sleep much.’

Throughout this week, the president has faced renewed scrutiny over his health and fitness, although he has insisted he feels ‘perfect’.

‘Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,’ he replied, before calling the reporter a ‘dope’.

Trump also told him: ‘You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.’

The Florida rally also saw several protesters interrupt the president, with Trump claiming they were being paid by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros.

One protester wore a shirt calling for the release of files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The event came just days before voters head to the polls on November 3, when control of Congress will be at stake.