US president, Donald Trump says he’s fine. Social media says otherwise.
For days, wild claims about the president’s health, from being gravely ill to outright dead have spread like wildfire online, even after Trump himself dismissed the chatter as “fake news during a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The 80-year-old leader’s brief absence from public appearances last week set tongues wagging, with hashtags like #TrumpDead racking up over 100,000 mentions and more than 35 million views on X, according to NewsGuard.
Online conspiracy theorists pointed to supposed road closures near Walter Reed hospital, an ambulance sighting at the White House, and even a half-staff flag as “evidence” that something was wrong with Trump.
But fact-checkers quickly tore the claims apart:
No such road closures ever happened.
US president, Donald Trump says he’s fine. Social media says otherwise.
For days, wild claims about the president’s health, from being gravely ill to outright dead have spread like wildfire online, even after Trump himself dismissed the chatter as fake news during a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The 80-year-old leader’s brief absence from public appearances last week set tongues wagging, with hashtags like #TrumpDead racking up over 100,000 mentions and more than 35 million views on X, according to NewsGuard.
Online conspiracy theorists pointed to supposed road closures near Walter Reed hospital, an ambulance sighting at the White House, and even a half-staff flag as evidence that something was wrong with Trump.
But fact-checkers quickly tore the claims apart:
No such road closures ever happened.
A photo of Trump’s face showing stroke lines” was nothing more than AI trickery.
Still, the rumours refused to die. Minutes after Trump’s press conference, one Bluesky account even claimed the “White House just announced” his death.
The frenzy underlines how closely America is now watching its oldest-ever president. With Biden, 82, forced to quit the 2024 race after health concerns and a disastrous debate against Trump, every Trump absence is now seized upon as proof of decline.
But for now, the president insists he’s alive, well and ready to fight.
