False Claims About Trump’s Health Spread Online Despite His Denial 

Rumours suggesting that US president Donald Trump was seriously ill — or even dead — flooded social media platforms over the past week, fuelled by manipulated images and misleading claims.

Despite Trump publicly dismissing the speculation at a White House press conference on Tuesday, the misinformation continued to spread. “Fake news,” he said when asked about the health rumours, brushing aside concerns that followed his absence from public events last week.

According to NewsGuard, a misinformation watchdog, the hashtag #TrumpDead was mentioned around 104,000 times on X since last Friday, racking up more than 35 million views. Many of the claims were traced to liberal anti-Trump accounts on X, Bluesky, and Instagram.

Among the false narratives were online maps said to show road closures near Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre, implying that Trump was receiving treatment there. However, there were no credible reports of road closures in the area.

Other viral posts included an image of an ambulance outside the White House, alleged to have been taken recently. NewsGuard identified it as an old photo from April 2023, captured while Joe Biden was still in office.

Users also circulated an image of the White House flag flying at half-staff, claiming it signified Trump’s death. In reality, the flag had been lowered following Trump’s proclamation honouring victims of a school shooting in Minneapolis.

Another manipulated photo zoomed in on Trump’s face, with users alleging it showed signs of a stroke. But NewsGuard clarified that the original image was simply out of focus, and the widely shared version had been digitally enhanced using an AI tool.

Even Trump’s own efforts to shut down the rumours on Truth Social failed to stop them. Over the weekend, he wrote: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.” Yet, within hours of Tuesday’s press conference, a false post on Bluesky claimed that the “White House just announced” the president was dead.

The persistence of these claims underscores the growing challenge of online misinformation in an era of widespread distrust in institutions and media.

The health of US presidents has always been closely scrutinised, but the issue has drawn even more attention in recent years, with the White House occupied by its two oldest presidents in history.

Trump, who at 79 became the oldest man elected to the presidency, has previously accused Democrats of covering up Joe Biden’s decline. Biden, 82 at the time he left office in January, dropped out of the 2024 election after a poor debate performance against Trump put his fitness for office under intense spotlight.