Why people thought Donald Trump had died as sick rumour went viral
Donald Trump is not dead, regardless of what people on social media are saying.
Yesterday (30 August) saw platforms such as X and Facebook rife with speculation about the health of the President of the United States, with some people even going as far as to suggest there was an elaborate cover-up to hide the 'fact' that the 79-year-old had allegedly passed away.
People were pointing to recent images of the President's bruised hands and chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis as 'evidence' that all was not well with his health, and doing the math on when he was last seen in public.
Add in the fact that Vice-President JD Vance recently said he was ready to step up should a 'terrible tragedy' befall Trump, and you were basically throwing petrol on an already smouldering fire.
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So what made so many people think that Donald Trump had died yesterday?
Lack of public sightings
According to Forbes, Trump's last public appearance was on Wednesday (27 August) at a televised cabinet meeting.
Several people also pointed to the fact that he had not given a press conference for the recent shooting at a church connected to a Catholic school in Minneapolis or visited the Minnesota city in the wake of the attack, which killed two children and left several more injured.
Trump had, however, been active on his Truth Social account, including issuing the following statement on the Minnesota shooting: "I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene.
"The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!"
Pentagon 'pizza index' spike
A key part of this weekend's rumours was a 'spike' in a website which records pizza orders around the Pentagon, which is home to the United States Department of Defence.
Known as the 'Pentagon pizza index', the site suggests that spikes in pizza orders suggest something major is happening, meaning that officials in the building are having to work late.
The theory is said to date back to the Cold War, when Soviet spies allegedly monitored pizza deliveries in the area under the assumption that a large number of orders would indicate that US officials were dealing with a crisis or were about to announce an invasion (via Euro News).
According to The Guardian, there was a spike in pizza orders near the Pentagon earlier this year, just before the US confirmed that it had launched a bombing mission against Iran.
Social media users claimed to have spotted a large spike in the early hours of 30 August, prompting the 'Trump is dead' theories to spread like wildfire.
However, it is worth noting that monitoring pizza orders isn't an exact science, as anyone residing in Arlington, Virginia, could order a load of pizzas and send the internet into overdrive.
JD Vance's 'terrible tragedy' comments
Amid the speculation about Trump's whereabouts, a recent interview Vance gave to USA Today also began to circulate rapidly.
In the interview, the 41-year-old talked about his first 200 days as Vice-President and suggested that his current role had given him the best 'on-the-job training' possible should some 'terrible tragedy' befall Trump.
"God forbid, there's a terrible tragedy, I can't think of better on-the-job training than what I've gotten over the last 200 days," he said.
Vance also reiterated that he was 'confident' Trump was 'going to serve out the remainder of his term' – but of course, that didn't make it onto social media.
General concerns about Trump's health
Much fanfare has been made about the President appearing with bruises or white patches on his hands in recent months, prompting the White House to confirm his chronic venous insufficiency diagnosis after previously attempting to brush the marks off as the result of the President shaking hands with people every day.
Given that Trump is also 79 and will be well into his 82nd year by the time he leaves office, it's not surprising that people are analysing every photo for clues on his overall health.
What has the White House said about the rumours?
The White House has not officially addressed the speculation about Trump's health; however, journalist Barak Ravid took to X yesterday to state that an unnamed US official had told him the following: "Trump is OK. Will play Golf this morning."
The POTUS was later spotted at a golf course with his granddaughter, Kai Trump, putting an end to all speculation about his alleged demise.
Topics: Viral, Donald Trump, US News
Brenna Cooper