US President Donald Trump conveyed that he is doing well in a message to his supporters after returning to the White House following a visit to his Virginia golf club over the weekend.
“NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” he wrote on Truth Social â a nod to the swirl of weekend speculation about his wellbeing.
This announcement was succeeded by a flurry of social media updates on Sunday night and into Monday morning, covering issues from Indian tariffs and COVID-19 vaccines to crime—before once again heading to Trump National Golf Club for the Labor Day holiday.
Last month, Trump participated in 26 public events, with his most recent engagement being an extensive three-hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the discussions spanned from Taylor Swift’s activities to various international conflicts.
So it was certainly unusual when, for three weekdays at the end of August, Trump’s public schedule went uncharacteristically dark.
No meetings were on the agenda for Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and Trump spent the Labor Day weekend in Washington, without any public appearances planned.
The conspicuous absence lit conspiratorial corners of the internet and group chats ablaze with questions.
However, on Saturday, he was seen by pool reporters wearing a white polo, black pants, and his trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap as he headed to his favorite golf club in Virginia.
Grandchildren Kai Trump and Spencer Trump were also along for the ride.
He revisited the club on Sunday, sharing an undated image of himself in a golf cart with former NFL coach and media figure Jon Gruden, and returned once more on Monday.
The White House press office often boasts of Trump as the “most accessible” president in history, tweaking his predecessor as they highlight his significant engagements with the press.
As questions arose about the president’s activities and whereabouts, a White House official said on Friday he was holding standard policy and staff meetings.
He also sat for an hour-long interview with the conservative publication Daily Caller.
“He’s very much alive!” Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese said in a post to social media previewing her interview â a nod to intense conjecture amid the very online set.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the online rumour mill generated intrigue amid broader concerns from the public about presidential wellness.
Trump, at 79, will be the oldest US president in history at the end of his term.
And former president Joe Biden was wracked with inquiries about his fitness for office, eventually prompting his withdrawal from his reelection campaign.
Images of Trump’s bruised hand prompted some speculation last month, something the president’s physician, Sean Barbabella, dismissed as “minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin”.
The White House announced in July that Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, after he was seen with swelling in his legs.
Trump, Barbabella said at the time, “remains in excellent health”.
