WASHINGTON — The online world had its doubts, but yes, Donald Trump is alive.
Trump’s televised appearance in the Oval Office on Tuesday doubled as a proof-of-life test for the conspiracy-minded after a week’s worth of speculation that he was gravely ill or worse.
The topic “#Trumpdead” had been trending on X. Yet there he was, indisputably among the living and taking swipes at the usual foils: California Gov. Gavin “Newscum,” the “fake news,” mail-in voting and crime in Democratic-run cities. He even worked in a mention of the once-mighty University of Alabama football team’s losing to Florida State on Saturday.
When did he learn of his demise? a reporter cheekily asked him.
Trump, 79, said he had gotten reports that, because he hadn’t been spotted much in recent days, something was amiss. He hadn't been seen in public from Tuesday afternoon until Saturday morning, following a more-than-three-hour on-camera Cabinet meeting, the longest of his term.
“I knew they were saying: ‘Is he OK? How is he feeling? What’s wrong?’” he said. “I was very active this Labor Day” weekend, which included golf outings at his club in northern Virginia and repeated posts on his social media platform.
Trump may be a victim of his own ubiquity. He is in front of the cameras so often that when he’s not, people notice and may leap to conclusions that he’s ill.
Trump has jumped to similar conclusions himself when it comes to political opponents. For years, he has relentlessly cast doubt on Joe Biden’s vitality and mental fitness. Since he returned to office, he has depicted Biden as the infirm puppet of controlling aides who used an autopen to mask his decline.
Trump renewed the attack Tuesday, saying of Biden: “We know he wasn’t in the greatest shape.”
Feeding the online rumors was a persistent bruise on the back of Trump’s right hand, which at times has appeared to be covered in makeup. In February, the White House said the bruise was the result of Trump’s “constantly working and shaking hands all day every day.” His doctor wrote in July that Trump takes aspirin as part of a "cardiovascular prevention regimen" and that the bruising is a side effect.
As a candidate, Trump benefited from the internet, raising millions online and using social media to spread viral messages. Now, in his second term, he is coping with an online audience that examines every pixel in his photos and is quick with a diagnosis, informed or not.
Trump has faced questions about how transparent he has been about his health. His former physician Dr. Harold Bornstein said Trump once dictated a statement describing his health as “astonishingly excellent,” even though the statement was released under Bornstein’s name. In 2019, during a surprise trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump asked personnel to sign nondisclosure agreements, and he initially declined to talk about the reason for the visit, which was later revealed as a routine colonoscopy.
His vice president may have also fueled questions about Trump’s health. In an interview with USA Today on Aug. 27, JD Vance said he feels “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.”
Then Vance added: “And if, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days.”
Trump also referred to his mortality Aug. 19 in an interview on Fox News, telling the channel: “I want to try and get to heaven if possible. I hear I’m not doing well. I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole.”
He reiterated his thoughts about the afterlife in a fundraising appeal over the weekend as his health drew widespread speculation online. According to search engine data from Google, interest in Trump shot up Friday night and into Saturday morning to levels about eight times what they were earlier in the week.
The top related search topics on Google in recent days included death, health and Trump’s age, according to the company.
On social media sites, including TikTok and Bluesky, some of Trump’s critics questioned where he was and suggested he might be sick.
“In this environment, people will seize on whatever seems to confirm what they suspected, and that’s obviously not a great situation for getting accurate information,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political science professor at Dartmouth College. “What we’ve seen illustrates the way that everyone is vulnerable to misinformation and online rumors.”
Speculation continued Saturday morning when a photographer took a picture of Trump in a golf shirt, heading out of the White House with a grandchild. Online, people scrutinized the photo for indications that he might not be well.
The next day, Trump posted a photo of himself on Truth Social golfing with former NFL coach Jon Gruden, who resigned from the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after having sent offensive emails, although Trump didn’t say when the photo with Gruden was taken. That prompted a fresh round of questions.
A White House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Trump golfed with Gruden on Sunday.
Trump directly addressed his health Sunday on Truth Social, saying, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”
But Monday, rumors swirled anew when images on X and elsewhere appeared to show someone throwing a trash bag out of a second-floor White House window, seemingly at odds with usual protocol. The videos got millions of views.
What happened remains unclear. The White House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a contractor tossed out the bags during regular maintenance at the White House while Trump was away.
Asked about the images Tuesday, Trump said the windows are sealed, which would contradict that explanation. He said the video was most likely an “AI-generated” fake.
This wasn’t the first time the internet throbbed with commentary about Trump’s health. In September 2020, Trump posted on social media a denial that he had suffered “a series of mini-strokes” — without anyone having suggested that he had. And in October 2020, he was diagnosed with Covid-19 in a scare that gripped the government two months before the rollout of vaccines. He spent three days at Walter Reed.
Inside the White House on Tuesday, aides took note of the most recent buzz surrounding Trump’s health but didn’t seem to believe it amounted to much of anything.
“The made-up speculation online is crazy and baseless, and it’s clearly being pushed by Democrat activists and left-wing lunatics,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump is perfectly fine and has a tremendous amount of energy. He has been completely transparent about his health with the public, unlike his predecessor, who went weeks without speaking to the media and spent a third of his presidency sleeping on vacation.”
A Biden spokeswoman declined to comment.
The kerfuffle seemed to subside after Trump's appearance Tuesday, but internet conspiracy theories often prove tough to quash. As evening approached, "#Trumpdead" was once again trending on X.
