PANews reported on April 5th that a rumor about Trump being seriously ill and hospitalized quickly went viral on American social media. In response, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted a denial: President Trump has been working tirelessly in the White House and the Oval Office this Easter weekend. After Trump posted on his social media account that the "missing pilot had been rescued," he posted again: "Let those disgusting journalists who question the president's whereabouts see what President Trump is doing."

The White House also responded to online speculation via its official account: "When President Trump goes 12 hours without speaking to the media, those delusional liberals start making up ridiculous conspiracy theories. (And when Biden often goes 12 days without speaking to the media, they say nothing.) Don't worry! President Trump has never actually stopped working." Furthermore, the White House denounced the account that posted the rumor of "Trump being seriously ill and hospitalized" as "a weapons-grade moron." It is understood that on April 4th local time, Trump's schedule suddenly only listed "executive hours," and that morning the White House announced the media term "lid," implying that the president would not make any public appearances that day. Social media users interpreted "lid," Trump's absence from public appearances, and subsequent lack of public activity as potential evidence that he had been admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment.