Over the weekend before October 2, 2025, President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm of controversy by sharing an AI-generated video on his favored social media platform, Truth Social. The video, which was quickly deleted after about twelve hours, depicted a futuristic and wholly fictional medical breakthrough: the so-called “medbed.” In the video, a computer-generated Trump promised that every American would soon receive a “medbed card,” granting access to new hospitals equipped with miraculous technology capable of curing virtually any ailment and restoring full health. The video’s message—"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 restore every citizen to full health and strength. This is the beginning of a new era in American healthcare"—was delivered by an AI Trump, and featured a robotic-sounding Lara Trump hosting what appeared to be a Fox News segment. However, Fox News confirmed to The Verge that the segment “never aired on Fox News Channel or any other Fox News Media platforms.”
The idea of the medbed is not new, but it is certainly outlandish. According to CNN and BBC, the medbed conspiracy theory is a favorite among QAnon followers. It claims that secret, highly advanced medical beds exist, capable of reversing aging, restoring limbs, and curing all diseases—but these miracle devices are supposedly hidden from the public by billionaires, the so-called "deep state," or even aliens. Some adherents go so far as to claim that former President John F. Kennedy is being kept alive on a medbed, decades after his assassination. There is, of course, no credible evidence supporting any of these ideas. As BBC reported, medbeds are “a conspiracy theory popular with QAnon people, in which there exists these magic beds, which restore limbs and reverse aging and cure anything that befalls the human body, but they're only available to the rich and the elite.”
Despite the video’s quick removal, it had already been widely seen and discussed. As Mother Jones detailed, Truth Social’s user base—skewing older and deeply loyal to Trump—reacted with a mixture of hope and certainty that the medbed technology was real and imminent. One user wrote, “I know in my heart that med beds are real. I’ve been hoping and at the same time thinking it’s too good to be true. But Trump is giving me back my hope.” Another chimed in, “All citizens will get a card. And I’m sure the waitlist will take the most acute first.” For many, Trump’s post was taken as a sign that the long-promised technology was finally about to be unveiled, despite the complete lack of scientific support.
The spread of this conspiracy theory is not confined to medbeds alone. As Mother Jones observed, Truth Social has become a fertile ground for all manner of dubious health claims and miracle cures, from ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine—both heavily promoted as COVID-19 cures despite a lack of evidence—to the infamous “vitamin B17” and “black salve,” both of which are not only ineffective but potentially dangerous. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned against these products, noting their risks of disfigurement, infection, and delayed treatment for real illnesses.
Following the deletion of Trump’s medbed video, the White House was quick to respond—though not in the way many expected. At a press briefing on October 1, 2025, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked directly about the president’s decision to post the AI-generated deepfake. Leavitt, defending Trump, said, “I think the president saw the video and posted it and then took it down, and he has the right to do that; it’s his social media. He’s incredibly transparent, as you all know. You hear from him directly on social media. He likes to share memes. He likes to share videos. He likes to repost things that he sees other people post on social media as well, and I think it’s quite refreshing that we have a president who is so open and honest directly himself, many a times on Truth [Social], you are hearing directly from the president of the United States.” Her comments, reported by NewsOne, were met with skepticism by many in the media, who pointed out that transparency is not the same as accuracy, especially when it comes to spreading false information.
According to PEOPLE and The Daily Beast, the video had been live for about twelve hours before it disappeared from Trump’s profile. The White House and Fox News declined to comment further. Meanwhile, the video’s impact continued to ripple through Trump’s online base. As Mother Jones described, users on Truth Social speculated about why the video had been deleted, with some suggesting it was due to too many comments, while others simply doubled down on their belief in the medbed’s existence. Posts promising “official medbed statements” and “reservation access” proliferated, often leading to Telegram channels where would-be believers were asked to pay hundreds of dollars in “registration fees” for appointments that would never materialize. Jonathan Jarry, a science communicator at McGill University, told Mother Jones, “The medbed fantasy isn’t new. The promise is always that this fantastical technology will be rolled out tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes.” He warned that Trump’s public endorsement, even if brief, would likely fuel more scams: “Given that Trump has given this mythical technology the biggest publicity it has ever received, I won’t be surprised to see entrepreneurs jumping on it to sell gadgets and services that will enrich them and impoverish desperate people.”
The medbed conspiracy is notable, as Jarry pointed out, for its unusual optimism. Unlike most conspiracy theories, which tend to focus on sinister plots and hidden dangers, the medbed myth offers hope—albeit false hope—for miraculous healing and renewal. But that hope is not harmless. Vulnerable people, especially those facing serious illnesses, may be drawn into scams or delay legitimate treatment in pursuit of a fantasy. The proliferation of such claims has been abetted by the loosening of content moderation on social media platforms since the Covid-19 pandemic, as Mother Jones reported. Twitter/X, Meta, and YouTube have all scaled back their efforts to police health misinformation, creating an environment where false cures can flourish.
In the end, Trump’s now-deleted medbed video did more than just stir up his base—it spotlighted the ongoing challenge of health misinformation in the digital age. The incident demonstrated how quickly a single social media post can amplify a fringe theory, turning it into a national talking point, and how difficult it is to put the genie back in the bottle once misinformation has gone viral. As the country grapples with the consequences of such viral falsehoods, the line between transparency and truth grows ever more important—and ever more blurred.
