Donald Trump Jr.’s social media profile on platform X experienced a security breach when a hacker posted untrue news about his father’s passing last Wednesday. The hacker also used offensive language directed at President Joe Biden in a set of messages that have since been taken down.
These posts, which were visible to the 10 million followers of the account, were promptly removed within an hour of being shared. The Trump Organization has since confirmed that the account was, indeed, hacked.
“In a recent series of social media updates, one message conveyed a sad announcement: “I regret to inform you that my father, Donald Trump, has passed away. I plan to run for president in 2024.”
In another post, a more serious note was struck, suggesting potential tensions with North Korea, and mentioning they were close to a major development. At the same time, a different message hinted at interesting discussions involving Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
Other posts talked about well-known individuals like Richard Heart, a cryptocurrency influencer dealing with legal issues from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the famous YouTuber Logan Paul.
These messages began appearing at approximately 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT).
In a surprising twist, Don Jr.’s father posted an unrelated message on his Truth Social profile, while Don Jr.’s own account announced his apparent demise. Andrew Surabian, who speaks for Mr. Trump Jr., quickly addressed the situation on X (formerly Twitter), confirming that Don Jr.’s account had been compromised, and the posted message was “clearly untrue.”
Despite this explanation, Don Jr. later used X but didn’t directly mention any account breach. He only “liked” a tweet suggesting he had been hacked. We tried reaching out to X for comment, but their automated response from the press email said, “Currently busy; please try again later.”
It’s important to note that Mr. Trump Jr. is still actively using the platform owned by Elon Musk.
Remember, Truth Social was created by the former president as an alternative after his X account was suspended in 2021 due to concerns about incitement of violence. His account was later reinstated in November of the same year.