People think Donald Trump might be dead, and the US government has yet to tell the world. News of the US President’s ill health has sparked concerns and rumours on social media for a while, with Trump frequently being seen with bruising on his hand and swelling in his legs.

Then, when Trump wasn’t spotted for three days over the recent weekend, the rumour mill went into overdrive with ‘proof’ that he was dead. 

Eagled-eyed TikTok users noticed that Trump didn’t have any events scheduled for a whole weekend, leading them to believe he was taking a really long weekend off—or that he had passed away.

@dumbbirchtree

y’all ?????? what is going on? #foryou

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Conversations surrounding Trump have been focusing on his ill health recently, due to repeatedly being seen with bruising on the back of his right hand, which he’s also been covering with makeup in an attempt to hide it. These months-long speculations have been fueling the idea that he is suffering from a potentially serious health condition, which lends itself to the theories that he has passed away.

According to Forbes, the White House initially blamed the bruising on handshaking, repeating the reason Trump gave to Time for the apparent injury during an interview in December, telling the magazine, “it’s from shaking hands with thousands of people.”

Elaborating on the bruising, the White House released a letter from the president’s physician, Sean Barbabella, that revealed Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency. Barbabella described this as a “benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.”

But the whole narrative being built to convince people Trump is alive and kicking has some holes—and it certainly wasn’t helpful that Vice-President JD Vance said he was ready to step in should anything happen to Trump. 

In an article on USA Today published while Trump was AWOL over the weekend, Vance was talking up Trump’s health and batting off the notion he is suffering from various ailments, but he did add: “If, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days.” Is he alluding to the idea of him stepping up to the US’s top job soon? It seems that he’s waiting in the wings, poised for the call-up.

There is also the case of the Pentagon Pizza Index, which has been spiralling throughout this whole “Trump is dead” rumour mill. This is basically a niche indicator some use to predict when something ‘big’ is about the happen in government.

The Pentagon Pizza Index is the theory that pizza restaurants surrounding the Pentagon, where the US Department of Defense is based, see huge spikes in orders before a major event. According to the Guardian, the last notable spike happened just before Israel bombed Iran in June.

The website reportedly showed a huge spike on the morning of 30 August, with one pizzeria showing a 476% increase in orders, and a TikTok user showed a screenshot of the only pizzeria open past midnight, which reported a 303% spike. So, what’s happening to cause the influx in pizza ordering? Could it be that Trump is actually dead?

@rark.muffalo

has it happened? has the orange been squeezed? #pentagon #trump #democrat #conspiracy

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The US President has since been seen out and about. He was spotted leaving for a round of golf on 31 August, dispelling the unconfirmed rumours that he had died, when, really, he might have just wanted a long Labour Day Weekend. 

Later that day, Trump also took to Truth Social to confirm he has “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.” The caps obviously reinforce the ‘truth.’