Donald Trump is not dead, the White House said on Wednesday in Washington, after a routine announcement that Vice President JD Vance would hold a press briefing sparked a wave of social media speculation about the 80‑year‑old president's fate.
The latest wave of rumours erupted after the White House Press Office posted on X that 'Vice President @JDVance will take the podium tomorrow at 1:00PM.' It marked Vance's first formal briefing since July, with no stated topic, no suggestion of urgency and, crucially, no mention of Trump's health. That absence of detail was all it took for some users to jump straight to the wildest conclusion available.