On July 30, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian products (archive link). In response, local media outlets recently published reports claiming that Donald Trump made a social media post expressing frustration, saying that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not respond to Trump’s statements about the tariff.
The reports claim that Trump wrote in his post: “I can’t believe Prime Minister Modi still hasn’t responded to my tweet, statement, or any of my comments about the tariffs. We’ve given India major deals, defense assistance, and yet he remains completely silent. Not even a thank you. Don’t forget, I’m the one who forced India and Pakistan to declare a ceasefire. No one else could have done it. Many said I deserved a Nobel Prize for that. Even though American workers are suffering, India has benefited from the start. I’ve always liked Modi. But this kind of disrespect is unforgettable. Bad for business. Bad for friendship.”
The reports based on this claim were published by Manab Zamin (archive), Ekushey TV (archive), Amader Shomoy (archive), and Dhaka Watch (archive).
Additionally, a post based on the same claim was shared on the media’s Facebook page here (archive).
Fact-check
The Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation found that the claim about U.S. President Donald Trump posting on social media expressing anger towards India is not correct. In fact, the discussed post was created by editing a screenshot of one of Trump’s posts on the social media platform Truth Social using digital technology. Media outlets have published reports based on that fake post.
During the investigation into Trump’s post, a keyword search found an archived screenshot of the alleged post by Donald Trump that was being circulated on social media. According to the claim in the screenshot, it is a post from Donald Trump’s Truth Social account.
However, upon reviewing Trump’s Truth Social account, no such post was found. In addition, no reliable source provided any information about Trump making the discussed post. From this, it is assumed that the discussed post was created by taking a screenshot of one of Trump’s posts on Truth Social and editing it with the help of digital technology.
Also, when the screenshot was tested on the fake image verification website Fake Image Detector, it was found that the screenshot was created with the help of a computer.
In other words, reports have been published in domestic media outlets based on the fake post’s screenshot that went viral on social media.
Therefore, the claim that U.S. President Donald Trump posted expressing anger at Narendra Modi for not responding to the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Indian products is false, and the screenshot circulated with that claim is fake.
Sources
- Truth Social Donald Trump Account
- Fake Image Detector
- Rumor Scanner’s Analysis
