Following confirmation that Donald Trump will make an unexpected announcement from the Oval Office later today, a major conspiracy theory surrounding the future of the presidency has gripped the internet.
According to the Mirror, an entry appeared on the White House's schedule this morning (2 Sept), which read, 'The President makes an announcement', but provided no further detail.
Already, critics of the Republican leader have raised questions over the announcement's affiliation with Trump's health following online rumours that he'd actually passed away over the weekend.
Such speculation was first kickstarted after a number of internet sleuths clocked that Trump hadn't made a public appearance in a number of days - including for the nationally-celebrated Labor Day weekend.
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Realising they'd last seen him during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (27 Aug), some conspiracy theorists saw internet searches for 'Trump' and 'is Trump dead' sky-rocket to the top of X's (formerly Twitter's) search engine.
This suggestion also followed questions regarding the President's wellbeing after he was, again, spotted out in public donning severe bruising on the back of his hands.
After eventually being spotted enjoying a round of golf with friends, the 79-year-old later refuted the death claims, writing on Truth Social on Sunday (30 Aug): "NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE."
Other critics wondered whether Trump could be set to retire, given the somewhat sporadic timing of the announcement.
"Is he resigning?" one X user asked, after which another penned: "If so then it’s a GOOD RIDDANCE. End of all extortion."
Why do fans think Trump might have been replaced?
As we say, however, another conspiracy theory has seen critics of the right-wing leader call into question whether, on top of his resignation, he could soon be replaced by his own Vice President, JD Vance.
Contriving evidence of this suggestion, a number of social media users pointed out that, on the White House's website, it reads in the 14:00 slot: "THE PRESIDENT will make an announcement."
This is opposed to the diary entry referring to the announcer as 'Donald Trump' or 'President Trump', and as such, some conspiracy theorists have taken it as a hint that someone could have secretly stepped into his shoes. Possibly, his right-hand man?
"Where does it say 'Trump'? The writing is 'The President'," one asked.
Another mentioned JD Vance specifically, adding: "That would be great - HOWEVER - Vance seems to be even more stupid, more immoral, more classless, more clueless especially in the foreign politics, and even more arrogant..."
"They say that he may have even suffered a stroke and lost the ability to speak because of it," a third postulated. "Either way, he's likely going to be resigning the office over to Vance during the day tomorrow due to his quickly declining health.
"I have heard people say they are prepping Vance now."
A fourth pointed out: "The President is making an announcement. The President is not named on that statement."
What has the White House said?
In the face of conspiracy theory compilations, however, Trump's officials have attempted to quash the chaos with a statement.
Speaking to Politico, White House representatives insisted the politician had no plans to discuss his health nor his potential retirement, insisting the announcement would centre on defence.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously confirmed: "The President will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense."
The claim comes a week after Trump voiced his intentions to have the Department of Defense rebranded as the Department of War.
He declared on Monday (25 Aug): "It used to be called the Department of War and it had a stronger sound.
"We want defense, but we want offense too... As Department of War we won everything, we won everything and I think we're going to have to go back to that."
Topics: Donald Trump, News, Politics, US News, JD Vance, Social Media
Rhianna Benson