Speculations about Donald Trump’s health after days without a public appearance

On the weekend of Aug. 30 -31, president Donald Trump did not make any public appearances. With Trump’s active political and social media involvement, this absence caused public speculation to arise.

Earlier this year on July 17, The White House released a statement revealing that Trump has a condition called chronic venous insufficiency. This condition entails a lack of blood flow back to the heart from the legs, causing blood to pool up and serious discomfort. The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented that chronic venous insufficiency is mainly prevalent in the elderly.

Trump, who turned 79 this year, is the oldest person to be inaugurated as president. 

While chronic venous insufficiency does not inherently lead to death, the effects of it can become quite serious when left undiagnosed or untreated. While not presented as a direct cause of the condition, Trump has been seen on multiple accounts with bruises on his hands. Leavitt attributed the bruises to “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” These bruises have helped amplify the rumors surrounding Trump’s health and the possibility of his death during his absence.

Ellery Noah ‘27 said, “I have no idea where Trump went, but someone told me he had bruises on his hands. I’m not sure if that’s true.”

Trump’s diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency combined with the sudden disappearance allowed for rumors of Trump’s supposed death to begin. Social media sites like TikTok, Instagram, and more showed videos speculating whether or not Trump had died.

The Sunday after his public absence, the official Donald Trump TRUTH account posted a photo of Trump at the Trump National Golf Course with Jon Gruden. Videos online speculated that the photo the official Donald Trump account posted was taken when Josh Gruden and him went golfing a week prior, before the post was made. Videos online discussed the idea that this post could have been made in an attempt to cover up Trump’s health condition.

The first supposed sightings of Trump in public did not convince much of the public, as people continued to postulate about his condition. Kaikoura Laber ‘27 said, “I did see a weird video, and I thought [Trump] looked kind of off.”

Adding to the speculation, James David Vance in an interview with USA Today discussed Trump’s health, said, “And 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,” This address of Trump’s health heightened rumors regarding his current health condition, as Vance seemed inordinately prepared to take up his position.

Trump had his first public event after his absence on Sept. 2, where he was asked directly about the rumors around his health by Fox News’ Peter Doocy. Trump claimed that he had not heard of the rumors, where he then said, “You know, it’s just so—it’s so fake. That’s why the media has so little credibility. I knew they were saying, like, ‘Is he OK? How’s he feeling? What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘I just—left.’ And it’s also sort of a longer weekend, you know. It’s Labor Day weekend…no, I was very active this Labor Day. I had heard that, but I didn’t hear it to that extent.”

As of Sept. 3, there has been no more information released on Trump’s absence, however, speculation about his health is still occurring online.