--- title: "Don Jr’s Twitter Account Got Hacked, Posted That Trump Had Died" description: "Donald Trump Jr.'s account on X-formerly-Twitter was apparently hacked today, with the account tweeting that his father had died." date: "2023-09-20" modified: "2023-09-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/don-jrs-twitter-account-hacked-trump-died" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "hacked" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Don Jr’s Twitter Account Got Hacked, Posted That Trump Had Died ![Donald Trump Jr.'s account on X-formerly-Twitter was apparently hacked today, with the account tweeting that his father had died.]() *\Image: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images\* ## Don Jr. 2024 Donald Trump Jr.'s account on X-formerly-Twitter was apparently hacked today, [*NBC News* reports](), with the son of former president Donald Trump posting — falsely — that his father had died. "I’m sad to announce, my father Donald Trump has passed away," the account tweeted, as evidenced by screenshots obtained by *NBC*. "I will be running for president in 2024." Unsurprisingly, the seemingly hacked account also tweeted racist slurs and threatened to "burn the SEC." Donald Trump spokesperson Andrew Surabian followed up the bizarre outburst, [saying]() that the claim of the elder Trump's demise was "obviously not true. Don's account has been hacked." ## Guessing Passwords Details about the hack remain hazy. But given previous incidents involving the Trump family, the hacker likely didn't have to try very hard. The latest intrusion is reminiscent of the time when Dutch security researcher Victor Gevers claimed to have [found a hilariously easy way]() to gain access to Trump's Twitter account back in 2020 — by guessing an "extremely weak and easy to guess password." According to Gevers, the password was "maga2020!" Earlier that year, hackers [managed to gain access]() to a dazzling number of high-profile accounts including Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, and Kanye West. The intruders used the opportunity to push a common cryptocurrency scam, making away with at least $100,000 — a more practical approach, it should be noted, than simply tweeting out racial slurs. In short, having Donald Trump Jr.'s account compromised isn't exactly surprising, especially given the [sheer chaos]() following Musk's disastrous takeover of X-formerly-Twitter last year. **More on X:** *[Elon Musk May Actually Kill Twitter For Real This Time]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()