Trump Dismisses Online Death Rumors as 'Fake News'

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was unaware of rumors spread on social media about his death but that they were "fake news."

Trump was at the Oval Office in his first public speaking appearance since last week, announcing that U.S. Space Command will be relocated from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama. The event aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.

"I didn't see that," Trump said when asked about reports of his death. "It's sort of crazy, but last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. They went very well, like this is going very well. And then I didn't do any for two days and they said there must be something wrong with him.

"[Joe] Biden wouldn't do them for months; you wouldn't see him. And nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him. And we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape. … I did an interview that lasted for about an hour and a half with somebody, and everybody saw that was on one of your competitors. I did numerous shows and also did a number of truths, long truths, I think pretty poignant truths."

Trump was referring to posts on Truth Social. He was away from the White House for most of the Labor Day weekend as he golfed at his Sterling, Virginia, course.

"No, I was very active over the weekend," he said. "They also knew I went out to visit some people at the club that I own pretty nearby on the Potomac River. I've been very active actually, over the weekend. I didn't hear that one. That's pretty serious stuff. Well, it's fake news, you know, it's just so fake.

"That's why the media has so little credibility. I knew they were saying like, 'is he OK? How is he feeling? What's wrong?' … It's also sort of a longer weekend. You know, it's Labor Day weekend. So, I would say a lot of people know I was very active this Labor Day. I had heard that [concerns about his health], but I didn't hear it to that extent."

Speculation about Trump's death reportedly began Friday, with the phrases such as "TRUMP IS DEAD" and "TRUMP DIED" spreading rapidly across X. By Saturday morning, more than 158,000 posts used the former phrase and another 42,000 the latter, platform data showed. At 9:15 a.m., "#whereistrump" ranked as the sixth-most popular trending topic in the U.S.

On TikTok, a video asking whether Trump had died because he had not been seen in public since Tuesday received 3.5 million views. One in which left-wing commentator Harry Sisson dismissed the rumor had 1.7 million views.

White House critics have called for full transparency about bruising on Trump's hands in recent weeks. Last month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump, 79, was diagnosed with "chronic venous insufficiency," which is a "common condition" in individuals over the age of 70.

There was "no evidence" of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease and the president "remains in excellent health," Leavitt said, adding that Trump's hand bruising is "consistent" with irritation from his "frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin."

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