President Donald Trump is due to deliver a mystery “announcement” after days of intense rumors surrounding his health.
Speculation was rife across social media after the White House issued Trump’s daily schedule for Tuesday. Set for 2 p.m., the alert reads, “THE PRESIDENT makes an announcement,” but provides no other details.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
It comes as a weary-looking Trump was photographed on Monday leaving the White House, heading to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, after a long weekend during which the 79-year-old’s health and absence from the spotlight featured heavily across social media feeds.
The image of a fatigued-looking Trump heading out to golf did little to dispel fevered speculation about his health. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s aides insist the announcement will not relate to a health issue or his retirement, according to Politico’s Playbook. The report states that Trump’s announcement will actually focus on defense, although further details were not disclosed.
An alarming picture of Trump, without his trademark orange glow, had been viewed over 13 million times on X by Monday night.
The president was photographed returning from his Monday golf game, still looking weary, fueling speculation about what he might announce on Tuesday.
And he’s back. Trump didn’t look much more energized as he returned from his golf club. Al Drago/Getty Images
The president’s ongoing bruising on both his hands, which he had tried to cover up, plus the strategic placement to hide his bulging cankles for White House photographs, had the rumor mill in overdrive across the weekend. Trump’s numerous recent mental gaffes have also not helped.
Speculation reached a fever pitch when journalist Laura Rozen highlighted Trump’s absence from the public over the Labor Day weekend. Social media users even claimed he could have died.
About 158,000 X posts with the hashtag #TRUMPISDEAD and 42,000 with #TRUMPDIED had been posted on X by Saturday morning. Speculation grew as the president, who had no public appearances scheduled for the long weekend, maintained an uncharacteristic silence.
A large bruise on Trump’s hand has been on full view in White House meetings. Brian Snyder/Reuters
The president’s last public appearance was on Aug. 26 for a Cabinet meeting, where his bruised hand made an appearance.
He was spotted by reporters heading to golf in Virginia on Saturday with his granddaughter, Kai.
Trump demonstrated proof of life on his Truth Social account over the weekend with a flurry of posts, ranging from increasingly bizarre AI-generated images to his praise of the stonework in the White House Rose Garden.
Trump’s bulging ankles were on full display during an Oval Office sitdown with South Korea’s president. The Daily Beast/Reuters
On Sunday, the president directly addressed the debate on his health, posting he had “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”
While Trump’s long weekend of golfing has been punctuated by his random Truth Social posts, the usually outspoken president has made no media appearances, and no official photos of his golf games have been released.
Trump’s health became a major talking point in July. After the recurring bruise on his hand and noticeably swollen ankles, the president underwent a medical check-up.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously claimed the bruised hand was due to Trump’s frequent handshaking and use of aspirin.
She clarified in July, “In recent weeks, President Trump noted mild swelling in his lower legs,” which concluded he was suffering from a “benign and common condition” called Chronic Venous Insufficiency.
The distant photos of a weary-looking Trump over the weekend fueled yet more rumors about his health. Al Drago/Getty Images
Trump has made some humiliating mistakes since then, however, including forgetting the name of an ocean and not recognizing the president of Finland when he was sitting opposite him at critical Ukraine talks at the White House even though the two are golfing buddies. Prior to meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the president consistently appeared to forget that it was a part of the United States.
White House’s cryptic Presidential announcement. screen grab
A photograph of Trump alongside MAGA radio host John Fredericks on Sunday did nothing to dispel the rumors about his health. Online commentators raged that the photograph had been doctored or could have even been taken in Mar-a-Lago.
Fredericks clarified on his X account that his wife, Anne, took the photo at about 4 p.m. Sunday, following golf and lunch at Trump’s National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
“Secret Service allowed the photo at POTUS direction,” Fredericks wrote, with three members of staff visible in the picture, as well as make-up covering the bruising on Trump’s hand.
On Monday, Fredericks lashed out at the wild reaction to his photo and how it was used to push the “Trump is dead” narrative.
“The Trump deniers are basically saying this is a fake photo and they ran it through AI,” Fredericks said in a video posted to X and TikTok. “The number of people who went on X and disputed a photo my wife took… was unbelievable… We took [the photo] at President Trump’s direction not ours.”
He added, “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.”
Fredericks also confirmed in his Monday video that Trump had spent three straight days golfing.
“I talked to him on Sunday, he looked and felt fabulous, we had a great conversation, he looked great, he had just played 18 holes of golf—he did that for three straight days, he was there again on Monday… Social media, the number of lies there is stunning.”
