Washington: The White House has pushed back against widespread online speculation that President Donald Trump was hospitalised, calling the claims false after rumours spread rapidly across social media following a routine press “lid”.
The speculation began after the White House announced a travel and photo “lid” at 11 a.m. ET Saturday, signalling no further public appearances for the day. Posts on X suggested Trump had been taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre, amplified by a widely shared motorcade video.
However, fact-checks and subsequent reporting indicated the footage was from 2024, when Trump was released from a hospital in Butler, Pennsylvania, after being shot.
The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, dismissed the claims and sought to project normalcy around the President’s schedule.
“There has never been a President who has worked harder for the American people than President Trump. On this Easter weekend, he has been working nonstop in the White House and Oval Office. God Bless him,” Cheung wrote on X.
A freelance journalist reporting from Walter Reed said there was no Marine One, no motorcade, and roads remained open, contradicting claims of heightened security linked to a Presidential visit.
Visual cues from the White House also reinforced that Trump remained inside the West Wing. CBS News journalist Emma Nicholson posted: “A Marine sentry is standing at the door of the West Wing as of 1:50 p.m., indicating the President is working inside.”
A Marine posted outside the West Wing entrance typically signals the President is present and working in the building.
In recent years, misinformation linked to Presidential movements has spread quickly across digital platforms, often requiring rapid official clarification to counter false narratives.
(IANS)
