President Trump waved off bizarre social media rumors about his demise Tuesday, telling reporters at the Oval Office that he was “very active” over Labor Day weekend and dismissing the morbid speculation as “fake news.”
The bad-faith scuttlebutt about Trump’s health kicked off after the White House released a schedule showing no public events for the president over Labor Day weekend, prompting grim hashtags like “#TrumpIsDead” and “#WhereIsTrump” to trend on X.
Trump’s thin holiday weekend schedule was announced four days after his last public appearance at a cabinet meeting last Tuesday.
Donald Trump loads into the motorcade at the White House on August 31, 2025, as he heads to Trump National golf course in Sterling, Virginia. AFP via Getty Images
Bad=faith theories circulated on social media after the president took a brief break from public appearances. Getty Images
“I didn’t do anything for two days, and they said ‘there must be something wrong with him,’” Trump mused to reporters of the conspiracy theory after he was asked about it.
“I was very active over the weekend. I went out to visit some people at the club that I own pretty nearby on the Potomac River. No — I’ve been very active, actually.”
A photo showed the president dressed in golf attire Saturday — complete with his signature red MAGA hat — as he headed to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia with his granddaughter, Kai Trump, 18.
Getty Images
The 79-year-old president took the opportunity to take a swipe at his 82-year-old predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
“You wouldn’t see [Biden] and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him,” Trump said, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who both chuckled.
“And we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape.”
Rumors of Trump’s ill health have been stoked in recent months by photos appearing to show bruises on his hands or swollen legs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed that Trump has a “benign and common condition” called chronic vascular insufficiency, or CVI, the result of leg veins having difficulty sending blood back to the heart.
She attributed the bruised hands to “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.”
