Hoax “Trump Is Dead” Trend Surges on X Amid Health Rumors

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2025 - A flurry of unsubstantiated rumors claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump has died dominated the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, driven by manipulated videos and misinterpretations of routine comments about presidential succession.

The hashtag #TrumpIsDead trended worldwide, with users sharing AI-generated clips purportedly from The Simpsons predicting Trump’s death and out-of-context excerpts of Vice President J.D. Vance saying he was “ready” to assume duties if a “terrible tragedy” occurred.

Amid the viral spread, X’s built-in AI assistant, Grok, intervened to label the reports as “rumors,” clarifying that routine White House livestream messages-such as “Stay tuned - we’ll be live again shortly”-do not indicate an emergency or health crisis.

The trend was further fueled by Trump’s absence from any public engagements over the weekend, as his official schedule listed no events for Aug. 30-31, prompting conspiracy-theory posts asking, “Where is Donald Trump?” Despite the speculation, neither the White House nor the president has issued any statement addressing the claims.

Experts warn that this incident underscores the rapid spread of misinformation on social media and the challenges platforms face in moderating AI-generated content and context-stripped clips. The White House schedule gap falls within normal weekend protocols, with only routine in-town pool calls listed for Saturday morning, and Trump remains active on his Truth Social account.