Over the weekend of September 27-28, 2025, President Donald Trump’s social media activity sparked a storm of controversy, confusion, and concern. At 10:19 p.m. on Saturday night, Trump’s Truth Social account posted a 37-second, AI-generated video that looked, at first glance, like a legitimate Fox News segment. In the video, a computer-generated Trump, sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, announced the launch of America’s first so-called “medbed” hospital and promised a “national medbed card” for every citizen. The video, which also featured an AI-generated Lara Trump acting as a Fox News host, claimed that these futuristic facilities would soon be available to all Americans, offering miraculous healing and restoration to full health and strength. By Sunday morning, the post was gone—deleted without explanation.
The video’s content was nothing short of fantastical. The AI-generated Trump intoned, “Every American will soon receive their own medbed card. With it, you’ll have guaranteed access to our new hospitals, led by the top doctors in the nation, equipped with the most advanced technology in the world. These facilities are safe, modern, and designed to return every citizen to full health and strength. This is the beginning of a new era in American health care.” Meanwhile, the AI-generated Lara Trump clarified that there would initially be a limited number of medbeds, with registration details to be announced soon.
But what exactly are “medbeds”? According to reporting from Slate, CNN, and The Daily Beast, medbeds are the stuff of online conspiracy theories—particularly those circulated within QAnon circles. The theory claims that secret, advanced technology exists (sometimes of alien or mystical origin) that can heal all ailments, reverse aging, and even regrow limbs. Some adherents believe this technology has been suppressed by nefarious elites or the pharmaceutical industry, while others think it’s being quietly rolled out under Trump’s leadership. The most extreme versions allege that the government, or even the military, has been hiding medbeds from the public for years, and that the technology is now finally being released.
There is, of course, zero scientific evidence for any of these claims. As CNN and The Independent have reported, medbeds are fiction—there are no real devices capable of the miraculous healing described in the conspiracy theory. Nonetheless, the idea has gained traction online, especially among those desperate for cures to chronic or terminal illnesses. This desperation has been exploited by scammers, who peddle fake medbed devices and treatments for tens of thousands of dollars, offering false hope and sometimes dangerous alternatives to legitimate medical care.
The origins of the AI-generated video Trump posted remain murky. Investigative reporter Jacqueline Sweet traced the clip to an Instagram account under the name Dr. David Richard Simon, a pseudonym often used in romance scams and fraudulent medical schemes. The video had already been circulating among QAnon accounts before it landed on Trump’s feed. Some in the conspiracy community recognized it as AI-generated, but as Slate points out, many people—especially older Americans—struggle to distinguish between real and fake content online. This raises the risk that some viewers might take the video at face value, believing the president had made a genuine announcement about a groundbreaking new health care system.
Reaction to the video was swift and fierce. California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned it as “AI-generated slop about ‘miracle hospital beds’ that cure all illness.” Medical professionals and fact-checkers quickly debunked the video’s claims, warning that such misinformation could have real-world consequences. As The Daily Beast and CNN noted, the spread of medical conspiracy theories online can lead vulnerable people to reject proven treatments in favor of quack remedies, sometimes with deadly results.
The incident also highlighted a broader trend in American politics and media: the rapid proliferation of AI-generated content and the increasing difficulty of separating fact from fiction. Trump’s post was deleted after about 12 hours, but not before it had been viewed, shared, and discussed widely. Some observers speculated that Trump had posted the video by mistake, perhaps believing it was a legitimate news story. Others suggested he was “trolling”—deliberately sharing outlandish content to energize his base or provoke outrage among critics. As Slate observed, Trump has a history of amplifying conspiracy theories, but rarely has he promoted one as fantastical as medbeds through such a direct, seemingly official channel.
The timing of the post added another layer of complexity. As The Houston Chronicle reported, the Trump administration has overseen significant cuts to real-world medical research and health care funding, including the termination of millions in grants to major Texas institutions and reductions to Medicaid. Against this backdrop, the promotion—however brief—of a fictional, sci-fi solution to America’s health care challenges struck many as both surreal and troubling. “Maybe next the president will share a video explaining how we can fix the national debt by turning lead into gold with the Philosopher’s Stone,” the Chronicle quipped, capturing the sense of disbelief felt by many observers.
For those following the story, the key facts are clear: Medbeds do not exist. The video was a product of artificial intelligence, not a legitimate policy announcement. Its claims were rooted in a conspiracy theory that has been thoroughly debunked by scientists, journalists, and public health officials. Yet the episode serves as a potent reminder of the dangers posed by digital misinformation—especially when it comes from the highest levels of government.
In the aftermath, some QAnon followers interpreted the deletion of the post not as a retraction, but as a secret signal from Trump to his most devoted supporters. Others used the moment to boost their own scams, selling bogus medbed products or even fake medbed cards. Meanwhile, critics from across the political spectrum called for greater vigilance against the spread of pseudoscience and for renewed investment in real medical research and health care access.
As the dust settles, one thing is certain: In an era defined by rapidly advancing technology and deepening partisan divides, the line between reality and fiction has never been more fragile. The medbed video may have vanished from Trump’s feed, but the questions it raises—about leadership, accountability, and the power of misinformation—are likely to linger long after the next news cycle.
