Misinformation Surrounds Trump‘s Health, Persists Despite Direct Denial
WASHINGTON – False claims regarding Donald Trump’s health, including assertions of serious illness and even death, have rapidly spread online, continuing even after the former president publicly refuted them on Tuesday. The misinformation campaign utilizes manipulated images, out-of-context photos, and unsubstantiated claims.
At a White house press conference, Trump dismissed the social media rumors as “fake news,” responding to concerns raised by his noticeable absence from public appearances and press events the previous week.
Analysis by misinformation watchdog NewsGuard revealed approximately 104,000 mentions of the hashtag “Trump dead” on X (formerly Twitter) as last Friday, accumulating a total of 35.3 million views.
several posts cited online maps allegedly showing road closures near Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland as evidence Trump was receiving treatment for a serious condition. However, no credible reports confirmed any such road closures.
Other social media users circulated an image of an ambulance outside the White House, falsely claiming it was recent and indicative of a health crisis involving Trump. NewsGuard identified the image as originating from a post by a journalist on X in April 2023, during the presidency of Joe Biden.
A further instance of misinformation involved an image of the White House flag flying at half-staff.Some users incorrectly presented this as evidence of Trump’s death. In reality, trump had issued a proclamation last week ordering flags lowered to honor the victims of a school shooting in Minneapolis.
Additionally, a digitally altered image of Trump’s face circulated online, with users claiming a visible line above his eye indicated a recent stroke. NewsGuard determined the original image was out-of-focus and showed no such line, and the circulated version had been digitally enhanced using an AI tool.
The spread of these falsehoods, which appeared to originate from liberal anti-Trump accounts on X, Bluesky, and Instagram, continued even after Trump stated on his Truth Social platform over the weekend: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.” The false claims persisted following Tuesday’s press conference where he again dismissed the rumors. Shortly after the conference, a Bluesky account falsely claimed the “White House just announced” the president was dead.This situation underscores the increasing challenges to factual accuracy in the current online habitat, exacerbated by declining public trust in institutions and traditional media. The health of US presidents has always been a subject of public interest, but with both recent presidents being among the oldest to hold office – Trump, the oldest ever elected at 79, and Biden at 82 when he left office in January – scrutiny has intensified.
Trump has previously alleged that Democrats attempted to conceal the mental and physical decline of Biden, whose health was a significant issue during the 2024 election. Biden ultimately dropped his campaign for a second term following a debate performance against Trump.
