It has started to feel like a political remake of “Weekend at Bernie’s”, a weary-looking Donald Trump photographed leaving the White House for golf, the internet convinced he’s dead, and an imminent White House “announcement” that no one can explain.
After a long Labor Day weekend dominated by online conspiracy theories about the president’s health, the White House has scheduled a statement for 2 p.m. today under the vague notation, “THE PRESIDENT makes an announcement.”
No further details were provided, fueling a frenzy of speculation that began days earlier when Trump, 79, vanished from the public eye.
The rumormill intensified on Monday when social media latched onto images of a pale, fatigued Trump leaving the White House for his Sterling, Virginia, golf club.
The picture—stripped of his usual orange glow—was viewed more than 13 million times on X, according to Daily Beast. Trump’s radio silence over the weekend—no rallies, no cameras, no golf photos—poured gasoline on the fire.
By Saturday morning, #TRUMPISDEAD had appeared in 158,000 X posts, with #TRUMPDIED tagged another 42,000 times. Some insisted he had already passed away.
Trump took to his social media platform on Sunday night, writing, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” adding in the same post that Washington had become a “crime-free zone.”
But his reassurance only stirred more debate. Many voices online accused the White House of using doctored or AI-manipulated images to cover for Trump.
“Dude that looks like a ham left out in the sun says he’s ‘never felt better,’” one X user observed. In the comments section, other observers said Trump looked “even closer to death today” than he did earlier in the weekend.
View on Threads
Another quipped, “And this was taken back in June. Imagine how he looks now, being dead since last week.”
Trump tried to stamp out the speculation himself on Truth Social, resharing a post by DC Draino, a conservative commentator, who criticized the “double standard” in coverage between Trump and Joe Biden.
“Joe Biden would go multiple days at a time without any public appearances, and the media would say he’s ‘sharp’ and ‘top of his game’. Meanwhile, he was wearing diapers and napping. President Trump puts in more public work hours than any other POTUS in US history and media freaks out if he disappears for 24 hours. Comical double standard.”
An effort to ground the rumors in reality backfired.
View on Threads
MAGA radio host John Fredericks, who posted a photo with Trump on Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, found himself accused of pushing a doctored image of him and Trump posing together.
He later explained on X: “Secret Service allowed the photo at POTUS direction,” adding that his wife, Anne, had taken the picture after lunch.
Fredericks pushed back again Monday, saying, “The number of people that engaged in this and thought this photo was fake and somehow believed that President Trump is dead or he’s sick or he’s in the hospital or he’s not there or these are AI photos is incredible.”
Still, skeptics pointed to editing quirks in the images. One viral thread accused the campaign of using FaceApp to enhance Trump’s smile, while others claimed reflections in a background mirror didn’t match the people present. Amateur sleuths even drew diagrams over the photo like a “spot the difference” puzzle.
“Where is his hair?” one critic asked on X. “When Trump wears a ball cap, you can still see his hair (as in the photo on the left.) However in the most recent photo his hair is gone, doesn’t even look like he has eye brows. Either this isn’t him, or for some reason his head was shaved. Your thoughts?”
The lingering health questions coincide with administration officials downplaying Trump’s haggard appearance.
Earlier this year, the president was spotted with swollen ankles and heavy bruising on his hands. In July, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt disclosed that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition common in older people that causes leg swelling. She stressed that tests for more serious issues came back normal. White House physician Dr. Sean Barbaella previously wrote that the bruises were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.”
Adding fuel to the chatter, Vice President JD Vance recently told USA Today that while Trump is in “incredibly good health,” he stands ready to assume the presidency if “a terrible tragedy” occurred. “He’s the last person making phone calls at night, and he’s the first person who wakes up,” Vance said, though he acknowledged “terrible tragedies happen.”
Trump’s lack of public visibility in recent days also coincided with heightened security around the White House. On Labor Day, some onlookers shared videos of streets blocked off within a one-block radius, with the National Guard still deployed after Trump’s earlier declaration of a crime emergency.
“This guy says that the White House is completely blocked off like it hasn’t been previously and nobody will say why it’s happening!” one post read.
By the holiday’s end, Google searches for “Where is Donald Trump” spiked, according to Forbes. The chatter even dragged in “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, who recently joked, “We’re going to go until somebody dies. When you-know-who dies, The Simpsons predicts that there will be dancing in the streets. Except President (J D) Vance will ban dancing.”
For now, Trump insists he is in good health and playing golf daily. But with a White House podium waiting and a mystery announcement on deck, the nation is bracing for what comes next—and whether the rumors will be put to rest, or take on new life.
