President Donald Trump shot down social media reports that he died or was severely ill over Labor Day weekend during a special announcement in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump said he has been active over the past few weeks, in sharp contrast to his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, who routinely kept the media at bay while in office. Biden often went for long periods of his presidency without addressing the press or being seen in public.
“How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked. “You see that?”
“No,” Trump responded.
Speculation surrounding Trump’s health escalated when White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency in July, a common condition of the blood vessels.
Recent photos of the president have shown makeup on his hand covering up bruising, but the condition is usually not life-threatening.
When asked by a reporter, Trump said he hadn’t heard about the phrases “Where is Trump?” and “Trump is dead” over his alleged demise trending on X.
“It’s sort of crazy, but last week, I did numerous news conferences, all successful. They went very well,” Trump said about his events last week, which included a three-hour Cabinet meeting. “Like this is going well.”
INTERNET SPECULATES ABOUT ‘MISSING’ TRUMP AHEAD OF LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
“And then I didn’t do any for two days, and they said there must be something wrong with him. Biden wouldn’t do them for months. You wouldn’t see him. And nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him,” the president continued. “And we know he wasn’t in the greatest of shape.”
Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer after leaving office, and several books have been published alleging that the former president’s inner circle shielded the public from his mental decline during his time in office.
Trump also interviewed with the Daily Caller over the weekend and said he remained active on the social media site Truth Social. The president was also spotted at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, over the weekend.
“I did an interview that lasted for about an hour and a half with somebody,” he said. “I did numerous shows and also did a number of Truths, long Truths, I think, pretty poignant Truths. No, I was very active over the weekend.”
Trump then relied on his infamous phrase for information he disagrees with.
“Well, it’s fake news. You know, it’s just so, it’s so fake. That’s why the media has so little credibility,” he continued. “I knew they were saying, like, is he okay? How’s he feeling? What’s wrong?”
Doocy later asked Trump about a separate social media video post of people throwing bags out of a White House window, even going so far as to show him the video.
“Have you seen this?” Doocy asked him.
“No, that’s probably AI-generated,” Trump said. “Actually, you can’t open the windows. You know why? They’re all heavily armored and bulletproof.”
Doocy again asked if the video was fake.
“Well, it’s got to be because I know every window up there,” Trump responded.
“In fact, my wife was complaining about it the other day. She said, ‘Love to have a little fresh air come in,’ but you can’t. They’re bulletproof,” Trump said. “And number one, they’re sealed. And number two, each window weighs about 600 pounds. You have to be pretty strong to open them up.”
Trump was then shown the video before bemoaning artificial intelligence.
“Yeah, those windows are sealed,” Trump confirmed. “It’s the kind of thing they do, and one of the problems we have with AI. It’s both good and bad. If something happens really bad, just blame AI. But also they create things.”
“It’s a little bit scary to be honest with you,” he added. “But those windows are all very heavily sealed.”
