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‘Trump is dead,’ fake news spreads across the web, but the president reappears in public

Viral hashtag and record Google searches fuel false alarm. The White House denies it: the president is in good health

‘Trump is dead’ is the latest fake news to ignite American social media. The hashtag #trumpisdead went viral on X, accompanied by a surge in Google searches. The 79-year-old US president was reported dead by numerous users, aided by his absence from the public eye for several days and recent photos showing bruises on his right hand, which the White House had previously attributed to numerous handshakes.

The role of suspicions and statements

Trump’s last public appearance was at the cabinet meeting on 26 August. His absence was enough to trigger suspicions, amplified by statements made by Vice President JD Vance who, in an interview with USA Today, said he was “ready in case of a terrible tragedy”. This remark, despite the immediate clarification about the president’s “incredibly good health”, was enough to fuel conspiracy theories.

The online avalanche

On 30 August, among the most frequent searches in the United States were questions such as: “Is Trump dead?”, “Where is Trump today?”, “Is Trump okay?”. The posts published by the tycoon on Truth Social did not convince the most sceptical, who continued to spread theories about his alleged disappearance.

The denial with images

The fake news collapsed in the late American morning when Trump reappeared in public. The president was seen smiling alongside his granddaughter Kai at his golf club in Virginia, keeping his usual Saturday appointment on the fairways. This image was enough to silence, at least for the moment, the rumours of his death.

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