Headline Roundup • September 3rd, 2025
Trump Addresses Rumor That He Was Dead
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Over Labor Day weekend, viral rumors circulated that President Donald Trump was sick — or dead.
The Details: Trump addressed the rumor on Tuesday, when Fox News (Right bias) reporter Peter Doocy asked him how he felt when he learned he was dead. Trump, when shown a video of the rumor by Doocy, said with a smirk that he "hadn't heard the rumors about his demise" and that he was "very active" playing golf, doing interviews, and posting "poignant" messages on Truth Social.
Key Quote: “Biden didn’t do ’em {press briefings} for months!” Trump exclaimed, prompting laughs around the room, “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.”
For Context: Trump is the oldest president ever inaugurated — Joe Biden was a few months younger when he was inaugurated in 2020, though he was also 78 at the time. Biden abandoned his re-election campaign on July 21, 2024, over concerns about his age and health.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the political spectrum noted that the rumors were fueled by Trump's public absence over the last few days, coupled with photos of bruising on his hands and thick ankles. Those symptoms may be due to shaking hands and long periods of standing, according to the White House.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
AFP via Getty Images
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy got a strange look from President Donald Trump — and a chuckle from Vice President JD Vance — when he asked the president point blank about the rumors of his death that had circulated over the weekend.
During an Oval Office event on Tuesday afternoon, Doocy pressed Trump to reveal when and how he’d come to find out that he’d died over the weekend.
“How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Doocy asked, prompting a quick sideways glance...
Speculation that President Trump was sick — or dead — took on a life of its own over Labor Day weekend, lighting up liberal feeds with conspiracy chatter that spread far beyond the fringe.
On Tuesday, Trump stepped in front of the cameras and squashed the online frenzy.
Why it matters: Baseless rumors about the 79-year-old president's health metastasized at warp speed, spawning millions of memes, TikToks, Google searches and "clues" about a supposed White House cover-up.
They made it all the way to the Oval Office, where Trump was asked by a cheeky Fox News...
President Donald Trump spoke out for the first time Tuesday on the viral rumors that he may have died, claiming he didn’t hear the speculation and had a busy holiday weekend.
Trump said “really? I didn’t see that” when a reporter asked him about the death rumors, claiming he was “very active, actually over the weekend,” adding “I didn’t hear that one, that’s pretty serious stuff . . . it’s so fake.”
Trump admitted “I knew they were saying like ‘is he ok? how’s he feeling? what’s wrong?’” telling reporters...
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