(NewsNation) — Social media exploded over the weekend with rumors about President Donald Trump’s health after an extended absence from public events, prompting the president to respond on his own social media.
Trump has not held any public events since Aug. 27, though he is scheduled to make an announcement related to the Defense Department on Tuesday afternoon.
After rumors circulated on social media, the president was seen golfing twice over the Labor Day weekend, though he did not speak to reporters and was only photographed at a distance.
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Social media users seized on the uncharacteristic absence and began speculating Trump had suffered a medical event that the White House was covering up.
Trump’s health has been the source of rumors and conspiracy theories after he was seen sporting a large bruise on his right hand and with heavily swollen legs. Earlier this year, the White House said Trump was suffering from chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which damaged leg veins struggle to return blood to the heart.
In addition to Trump’s health, social media users cited recent remarks from the president about wanting to get into heaven and a comment by Vice President JD Vance about being prepared to take over the presidency should something happen to Trump as evidence of his decline.
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In response to the rumors, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had never felt better.
Conspiracy theorists were not satisfied, claiming the posts were written by someone else and repeating allegations that a body double was being used to hide his death — a baseless claim made about other politicians in the past, including former President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s Defense announcement was the only public event on his schedule for Tuesday.
