{"id":119267,"date":"2025-09-04T12:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119267\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:22:08","slug":"how-false-rumours-of-trumps-untimely-death-spread-on-social-media-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119267\/","title":{"rendered":"How false rumours of Trump\u2019s untimely \u2018death\u2019 spread on social media | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some people spent Labor Day weekend in the United States soaking up the last of the summer\u2019s rays. Others took to social media to speculate that President Donald Trump was at death\u2019s door, or worse.<\/p>\n

On X, the hashtags #trumpisdead and #whereistrump trended. Millions of people made or watched videos on TikTok speculating that Trump had died or suffered a stroke or another serious medical emergency.<\/p>\n

The president is not dead. Trump spoke\u00a0live<\/a> at the White House on Tuesday. Even as rumours of his death went viral, he had been photographed by news outlets, and his Truth Social posts racked up thousands of interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?\u201d Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Trump, who stood before reporters in the Oval Office. \u201cDid you see that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said he had not seen claims alleging his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see that. I have heard. It\u2019s sort of crazy, but last week, I did numerous news conferences. All successful, they went very well. Like this is going very well,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd then I didn\u2019t do any for two days, and they said, \u2018There must be something wrong with him.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump does have a real, but non-life-threatening, health condition. But the false notion that Trump was dead or dying gained traction through a combination of factors: a Vice President JD Vance quote that was mischaracterised on social media; political left-leaning influencers\u2019 scrutiny of Trump\u2019s low-key holiday weekend with no public scheduled events; and exaggerations of the president\u2019s known health history alongside images showing some of his health condition\u2019s symptoms.<\/p>\n

The rumours started swirling following an August 28 USA Today interview with Vance.<\/p>\n

USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers asked Vance whether he is \u201cready to assume the role of commander-in-chief\u201d, noting that Trump is the oldest president to have been sworn in.<\/p>\n

Vance answered: \u201cI feel very confident the president of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people. And if, God forbid, there\u2019s a terrible tragedy, I can\u2019t think of better on-the-job training than what I\u2019ve gotten over the last 200 days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Vance said multiple times that Trump is in good health, social media users jumped on his comments about being ready to assume the presidency as evidence that something was awry.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cTrump is dead\u201d appeared at least 5,616 times from August 28 to September 2 across X, Reddit, YouTube and Bluesky, according to data from Rolli IQ, a social media monitoring tool. X users based in other countries, including Brazil and Australia, also posted the phrase, Rolli IQ data showed.<\/p>\n

The X posts containing the phrase generated the most engagement, with more than two million likes and 122,000 shares in total.<\/p>\n

News of Vance\u2019s quote was widely shared on X, with millions of views and other interactions. The next day, on August 29, an X post viewed 13.8 million times went further, saying: \u201cTrump is dead. He died on Wednesday.\u201d It provided no evidence. Google searches for the phrase \u201cis Trump dead\u201d started increasing the same day, peaking at 3am ET (07:00 GMT) on August 30.<\/p>\n

Social media used Trump\u2019s schedule and health history as fodder for speculation<\/p>\n

Online posts pointed to Trump\u2019s schedule as further evidence that something must be wrong. Following a three-hour televised cabinet meeting on August 26, Trump had no public events for six days. The lack of face time for a president who is often on camera fuelled claims that Trump\u2019s health was in decline.<\/p>\n

On August 29, Laura Rozen, a Washington, DC-based diplomatic correspondent for news website AL-Monitor, posted on X: \u201cTrump has no public events scheduled all weekend. Don\u2019t believe he was seen today either.\u201d That post gained 33.9 million views.<\/p>\n

An X account called \u201cDid Donald Trump Die Today?\u201d existed before the Labor Day weekend rumour; it has been posting \u201cno\u201d answers to its namesake question since December 2024. But when the account reposted Rozen\u2019s observation with the caption, \u201cYeah he likely died LOL\u201d, it garnered 14.3 million views.<\/p>\n

Although Trump had no public meetings, his schedule was not suspended as some users claimed. The White House continued to publicly release and chronicle meetings and actions.<\/p>\n

But some on social media persisted. They pointed to photos of Trump\u2019s\u00a0swollen ankles\u00a0and\u00a0bruised hands, and a July\u00a0letter\u00a0from his doctor diagnosing Trump with\u00a0chronic venous insufficiency<\/a>, a common condition that can cause leg swelling. It is not typically life-threatening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s how I know the president has had a stroke and the White House is lying about it,\u201d one user who identified himself as a physical therapist said in a September 1 TikTok with more than three million views that has since been taken down. The user analysed Trump\u2019s April medical report, saying his medications are evidence that \u201cTrump has had a stroke, or maybe even a heart attack in the past\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Blevins, a University of Cincinnati professor who teaches media law and ethics, said Vance\u2019s comment may have been innocuous, but in combination with the bruises, questions about Trump\u2019s health and lack of public events, it \u201cgives spark to these [kinds] of ideas\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Truth Social, Trump posted on August 31 that he has \u201cnever felt better\u201d in his life.<\/p>\n

Trump is not the first world leader to be the subject of rumours of his alleged death. Cliff Lampe, a University of Michigan School of Information professor, said in the 1940s, rumours of Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin\u2019s death circulated. Stalin died in 1953.<\/p>\n

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini also \u201chad rumours of death before they had actually died\u201d, he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was also a subject of death hoaxes. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been rumoured dead on several occasions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all of these cases, rumours are fuelled where the leader purposely constrains access to a free press, or is otherwise secretive. It\u2019s also more likely where the leader has enemies who want to destabilise their legitimacy,\u201d Lampe said.<\/p>\n

In June, Trump himself reshared a post on Truth Social that baselessly claimed former President Joe Biden had been executed in 2020 and replaced with clones or robots.<\/p>\n

Before that, people also speculated Biden was dying or dead after he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. At the time, conservative social media users circulated the rumour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference is that theory was really fringe, while the current one is more in the mainstream of questioning Trump\u2019s health,\u201d Blevins said.<\/p>\n

Liberal influencers stirred suspicions about Trump\u2019s health<\/p>\n

Liberal social media influencers who specialise in political news fed into the Labor Day weekend craze. They made videos that amassed millions of views, questioning Trump\u2019s health, demanding answers from the White House.<\/p>\n

Some influencers clarified that Trump was not dead, calling that a conspiracy theory and pointing to reporters\u2019 photos of Trump leaving the White House to play golf at his Virginia golf course.<\/p>\n

\"Trump\"\/President Donald Trump walks at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, August 30, 2025 [AP Photo]<\/p>\n

\u201cBut folks, there\u2019s no conspiracy about whether or not Trump is alive. He\u2019s alive. Stop spreading that,\u201d influencer Aaron Parnas said in a September 1 TikTok. \u201cThese are literally from White House pool reporters today. But that does not change the fact that questions still remain about the president\u2019s health, and we should still keep asking them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other influencers scrutinised photos of Trump, saying he looked \u201cfrail and weak\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery, very sickly looking as well. Something is going on there,\u201d said Ben Meiselas, a lawyer and podcast host for liberal news website MeidasTouch, in an August 31 TikTok. \u201cIt appears to be, and again this is just an opinion, I\u2019m not a doctor, some serious either cardiovascular, kidney or liver issue based on medical professionals I\u2019ve spoken to.\u201d<\/p>\n

One influencer speculated based on a video the White House posted on September 1 on X, titled \u201c11 Lessons\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe White House just posted what appears to be an in memoriam reel for Donald Trump,\u201d influencer V Spehar said in a TikTok with three million views. \u201cAs you know, we haven\u2019t seen Trump on video since his cabinet appearance. And there has been speculation that perhaps the president suffered a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s video showed clips of Trump at all stages of his life, as inspirational music played behind audio of Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever let anyone tell you that something is impossible,\u201d Trump said at the end. \u201cIn America, the impossible is what we all do best.\u201d<\/p>\n

People share conspiracy theories in response to an unfulfilled psychological need, Lampe said. When people circulated rumours about Biden\u2019s health, he said, they likely exaggerated the extent of his cognitive decline because \u201cit offers an \u2018escape\u2019 from a leader they don\u2019t like\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people who may not like the current administration, the overall theory is probably a release valve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ellen Hine and Maria Briceno contributed to this report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some people spent Labor Day weekend in the United States soaking up the last of the summer\u2019s rays.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1376,7592,43,84,44,1942,41,39,42,40,772,1690],"class_list":{"0":"post-119267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-explainer","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-social-media","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-us-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}