‘They’re hiding something’: Why would the White House hide Donald Trump’s death?

All around the world, social media users are obsessively refreshing their feeds and watching the official White House channels like hawks. Word on the streets is that Donald Trump is dead, with it having secretly happened some time over the last few days.

The proof? He hasn’t been seen in person in public since Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, there are no events scheduled for him this weekend, and the American flag is currently flying at half mast over the White House:

Trump has no public events scheduled all weekend. Don’t believe he was seen today either. pic.twitter.com/PKAvVFk4KA

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) August 29, 2025

It’s at least odd that Trump hasn’t been seen in days, and if he is alive, all this speculation could be quickly squashed by his making any kind of public appearance. So, if Trump had secretly died, why would the White House even want to cover that up?

Why hide it?

There are several possible reasons. One is that Trump’s supporters are volatile and obsessed with conspiracies. Depending on the manner of Trump’s death, officials may be fearful of another Jan. 6 style uprising from those who become convinced it wasn’t from natural causes, resulting in the destablization of government.

Alternatively, there may be some kind of behind-the-scenes power struggle relating to JD Vance. Vance doesn’t have Trump’s charisma and ability to rally the MAGA coalition, potentially leading to fractures within the Republican Party as they attempt to seize power for themselves.

Or perhaps it’s cold, hard cash. Trump’s death would impact financial markets and may tank the $Trump cryptocurrency, which is currently valued at $5 billion (though it could just as easily spike in value). A delay could allow the administration to coordinate with financial institutions to mitigate a wider economic catastrophe.

Perhaps the plausible reason for a delay is that Trump isn’t technically dead, but is currently hovering somewhere between life and death. Perhaps he’s suffered a debilitating stroke, is semi-comatose, and they need a professional opinion on whether he’s able to continue to be president?

The wrinkle there is that there’s already a Constitutional provision for an incapacitated president. The 25th Amendment reads:

“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

We could be waiting for that process to happen, though, in practice, it would be a rapid process for national security reasons, as there needs to be someone with nuclear authorization at all times.

All this said, if Donald Trump has died or become incapacitated, the White House would be insane to cover it up. Regardless of anyone’s political opinions, any indication of even a mild cover-up would obliterate trust in officials and launch a million wild conspiracy theories.

In these hypothetical circumstances, the truth is always best… though perhaps Trump’s MAGA minions are so out of practice on telling the truth that they simply lie by instinct.