False Death Rumours About Trump Flood Social Media Despite Public Appearance

Wild rumours falsely claiming that former US President Donald Trump had died or suffered a severe health crisis spread rapidly across social media platforms over the past week, even after the 79-year-old publicly dismissed the speculation as “fake news.”

Our correspondent collected from US media monitoring group NewsGuard that since Friday there had been more than 104,000 mentions of the hashtag “Trump dead” on X, generating more than 35 million views.

Some users claimed road closures around Maryland’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre signalled a medical emergency, while others circulated an old photo of an ambulance outside the White House, wrongly suggesting it was linked to Trump.

Misinformation included a digitally altered image of Trump’s face, purportedly showing evidence of a stroke, and an out-of-context picture of the White House flag at half-mast – which in reality was lowered to honour victims of a school shooting in Minneapolis.

Despite Trump writing on Truth Social, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” and addressing reporters at the White House on Tuesday to reject the health rumours, false posts continued to circulate.

The episode underscores how misinformation ecosystems have become increasingly difficult to control, particularly amid widespread distrust of traditional institutions.

With the US now having seen its two oldest presidents in history, scrutiny of presidential health is at an all-time high – and, as the 2024 election showed, weaponised health narratives remain a potent political tool.