Is Donald Trump dead? Rumours swirl after US President has not been seen in public for two days

Rumours on social media surrounding US President Donald Trump are nothing new - and often the man himself starts many of them through his use of his Truth Social medium. However, the so-called leader of the free world may not be pleased with the latest spike in searches - surrounding his death.

A rogue post on social site Reddit has gone viral, in which a lack of public appearances by the President on Thursday and Friday may indicate he has passed away. He hasn't. But we all know that doesn't mean the internet moves on.

The initial post said: "POTUS (President of the United States) hasn't been seen since yesterday, wasn't seen today, and has no public events scheduled this weekend. He hasn't even been seen in public since Wednesday, and we don't know if he'll be seen in public until Tuesday.

"Rumours are circulating that he's died. Twitter is having a heyday and, after a federal appeals court ruled 7-4 today that POTUS' tariffs are unconstitutional as they violate Congress' authority over the purse and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are joking that POTUS saw the ruling and immediately ... killed himself."

It's true the President has not spoken out on issues some might have expected him to, including a drama at the CDC (Centre for Disease Control), which saw the director fired and several top officials resign amid fears over an upcoming report on vaccines and their disproven link to autism.

The fired official, Dr Susan Monarez, was let go because she was "not aligned with the president's agenda", according to the White House. However, she says - as she is Senate confirmed - only the President can fire her. He hasn't.

And as noted by the Reddit poster, the US Appeals Court did rule Friday that 'most' of Trump's tariffs - a tax on goods coming into the US from abroad - are illegal. Despite the decision, the court did allow the tariffs to remain in place until October 14 as the administration looks to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Disproving the death rumours, Trump did post on Truth Social in response to the verdict - posting about a "highly partisan" court, and adding how "if these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the country".

Tariffs have been a mainstay of Trump's economic policy in his second term, used as a bargaining chip to secure concessions from other countries - and leading to a string of gifts to the President himself and investments in his private businesses as leaders seek to ease the impact on their countries and companies.