Trump announcement: What is Donald Trump announcing on Tuesday? US President conspiracy theories erupt

The White House has confirmed the US President will be making an announcement shortly from the Oval Office, and the internet has gone into overdrive.

A note to journalists was issued late on Monday evening US time, which says on Tuesday, 2pm Eastern Time (Wednesday, 4am AEST), the US President will make an “announcement” at the White House.

Politico’s senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney posted a screenshot of the note on X, adding that the announcement is “unspecified”.

The ominous confirmation of an “announcement”, which no one appears to have any details on and doesn’t mention US President Trump by name, comes at an unusual time.

Over the weekend, conspiracy theories about Mr Trump’s health went into overdrive.

On Saturday, “Is Trump dead?” peaked in Google searches. On X, “where is Trump” trended globally.

The White House was quick to confirm that the US President was not dead, and shortly after, a picture of Mr Trump playing golf surfaced.

Mr Trump has also been very active on his social media platform Truth Social.

Also driving curiosity is a bizarre predictor of major US events, the “Pentagon Pizza Index”.

The index, which tracks pizza orders or foot traffic for key pizza shops near the Pentagon and other strategic US agency sites, including the White House, has historically shows major increases in store busyness before events involving US national security.

These have included a massive surge before the 1983 US invasion of Grenada, before the 1990 Iraq invasion of Kuwait, the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, and, more recently, before the Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

The consensus amongst believers of the index is that US officials work late and order pizza when the US is preparing for something.

Over the last four days, the “Pentagon Pizza Index” has shown major increases in busyness.

US officials have been quick to shoot down suggestions that the index has any real merit in the past, but the bizarre low-tech tracker predicting “military tension” has a track record.

Trump announcement theories erupt online

Online, users have been quick to speculate what the announcement may be, and with little information, the conspiracies are wild.

Some people are still not convinced that Mr Trump is actually alive after having a string of days with no public appearances.

“Maybe it’s the new President? They didn’t state ‘Trump’,” one user wrote.

“Here’s a guess — Trump is out, citing health issues. Vance is POTUS immediately. He names a VP, which Congress must confirm — that’s why it is happening before 2026 mid-terms. Per Project 2025 schedule,” another wrote.

“He’s going to polish up the Statue of Liberty,” a third wrote, mentioning a new theory that has grown in popularity online, which has speculated the US President could organise for the statue to be polished, with many thinking it would reveal a shimmering bronze Lady Liberty.

Potentially more conceivable theories revolved around the US-India relationship, ICE crackdowns in more Democrat states or national guard troops being deployed to clean up streets across the US, as Mr Trump did with Washington DC.

“CHICAGO NATIONAL GUARD GOING IN!” a user wrote. The suggestion comes after Chicago Democrats revealed they were preparing for federal immigration operations on Sunday.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Chicago has also battled an increase in crime.

Others speculated it may be around tariff rates for India after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

With absolutely no information to work off, and no leaks in sight, it appears that Americans and followers of US politics will need to wait until the ominous announcement is made to see what Mr Trump has in store.