'Trump Jr declares his dad is dead' and he's running for president in suspected account hack

We're used to wild plot twists when it comes to Donald Trump and his brood, but no one could have seen this one coming.

The MAGA commander-in-chief is dead and his son, Donald Jr, is running for president in his place – that is, at least, according to the latter's X/Twitter account.

A tweet posted at 1:25pm UK time (8:25am ET) from his verified page read: "I'm sad to announce, my father Donald Trump has passed away. I will be running for president in 2024."

The apparent bombshell was followed by a string of further outlandish, offensive and down-right dangerous comments, including jibes at North Korea, Logan Paul and an expletive-filled attack on Joe Biden.

@DonaldTrumpJr/X

It was half an hour before the jaw-dropping thread was removed and, at the time of writing, no official explanation had been given.

The safe assumption is that the account was hacked but with no word from the horse's mouth, who can say for sure...

Naturally, eagle-eyed social media scrollers seized on the unexpected outburst, with many capturing screenshots to immortalise the embarrassing mishap.

And anyone concerned that there was any truth in the announcements needed only turn to Trump Sr's favourite online stomping ground.

The former world leader was busy ranting on Truth Social right when things were kicking off. So yes, he's very much still alive.

Indy100 has contacted X/Twitter and the Trump Organization for comment.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.