Donald Trump breaks his silence with first post since flurry of 'dead' rumours

Donald Trump has broken his social media silence for the first time since wild rumours that he had died emerged online.

The US President shared a new photo on Truth Social which shows him playing golf with American football coach Jon Gruden. He captioned it, "Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!"

It is the first time Trump, 79, shares a public statement after rumours of his death went viral on social media. The Republican politician had not been seen for three days and conspiracists were pointing to the fact that he had no scheduled weekend events as proof that something was up.

READ MORE: 'Donald Trump is dead' rumours addressed by US official after social media storm

While Trump didn't directly address the rumours, he proved he was very much alive by playing golf with his granddaughter Kai Trump on the south lawn of the White House. Quashing the rumours, early on Saturday journalist Barak Ravid this afternoon cited a "US official" as saying: "Trump is OK. Will play Golf this morning."

The Israeli journalist, who works as an analyst for CNN and reports for Axios and Channel 12, posted the update on X, where chatter has exploded over unverified claims of the president's demise. Trump has been out of the public eye for just three days, but his absence has seen the phrase "Trump is dead" taking over X and Facebook.

The false rumours came after the Commander-in-Chief was photographed with what appeared to be a bruise on his right hand. Many of those sharing the conspiracy on social media pointed to Trump having no scheduled events this weekend - but that is perfectly normal for a president. Trump had also been posting on Truth Social since he was last seen in public.

Comments from Trump's own Vice President JD Vance added fuel to the fire. On August 27, Vance was asked whether he would be prepared to step into Trump's shoes should a "terrible tragedy" take place. In an interview with USA Today, Vance stressed Trump was in great shape, but added that the possibility could not be ruled out.

"He's the last person making phone calls at night, and he's the first person who wakes up and the first person making phone calls in the morning," Vance said. "Yes, terrible tragedies happen.

"But I feel very confident the president of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people. 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."