Featured Image Credit: NBC
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics, News
Rhianna Benson
Everyone was left on tenterhooks yesterday (2 September) after the White House confirmed that President Trump would be making an unexpected announcement from the Oval Office.
Some critics were left convinced the politician might announce his resignation, while others went on to suggest that Trump's right-hand man, JD Vance, might be stepping into the powerful position, having noticed the official website reads that, in the 14:00 slot, 'THE PRESIDENT will make an announcement', as opposed to mentioning him by name.
Meanwhile, a third group wondered whether the reason for the announcement could have been Trump taking the opportunity to address recent rumours that gripped the internet over the weekend, which alleged that he'd died.
After it was noticed by social media users that Trump hadn’t made a public appearance since 27 August and he hadn’t celebrated Labor Day weekend, people became convinced that something had happened, leading internet searches for 'Trump' and 'is Trump dead' to rise to the top of X's search engine.
Advert
Trump was quick to nip these rumours in the bud as he took to Truth Social in the midst of the speculation on Sunday (31 August) to say: "NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE."
And though the majority of Trump's announcement centred on both the U.S. Space Command headquarters remaining firmly grounded in the Deep South, as well as the Space Force HQ moving from Colorado to Alabama, the President did touch on rumours of his supposed passing once again.
That said, however, several viewers tuning in did notice that his claims somewhat contradicted one another.
Asked by a reporter if he'd caught wind of speculation of his death - despite the statement Trump previously issued on social media - he responded that he 'didn't hear' the rumours.
Minutes later, he seemingly went back on his assertion, adding: "You know, I have heard it’s sort of crazy, but last week, I did numerous news conferences, all successful - and then I didn’t do any for two days, and they said there must be something wrong with him.
Unable to resist firing a shot in his presidential predecessor's direction, Trump then added: "Biden wouldn’t do them for months."
Adding that he was 'very active over the weekend', he continued: "I heard that, I get reports. You knew I did an interview that lasted for about an hour and a half with somebody and everybody saw that was on one of your competitors. I did numerous shows and also did a number of Truths, long Truths, and I think pretty poignant Truths.”
One social media user hit out over his seeming contradiction: "'No, I didn't hear this' - Two sentences later... 'yea, I heard that. I get reports on it'."
Another noted: "The most trump answer ever… starts off with 'no idea what you are talking about'… to 'yes ofc I know but no one talked about *insert some predecessor name** and then wrapped it up with talking about the reporter’s competition lol."
A third agreed: "He can't even lie right. First, he said he didn't see it, then he said he did. His followers really will believe anything."
Later during the discussion, Trump went on to brand the false rumours of his death as 'fake news', adding: "It's just so fake. That's why the media has so little credibility.
“I knew they were saying, 'Is he okay? How is he feeling? What's wrong?' I said, I just left. It's also sort of a longer weekend, it's Labor Day Weekend, so I would say a lot of people... No, I was very active this Labor Day. I heard that, but I didn't hear it to that extent.”