Fact Check: Did Donald Trump give 'Nazi salute' at Fourth of July fireworks?

WASHINGTON, DC: Across the years, President Donald Trump has repeatedly sparked widespread outrage for his controversial remarks lauding none other than notorious Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

However, the 79-year-old president has now been accused of throwing the infamous ‘Nazi salute’ while attending the White House's Fourth of July fireworks gathering with his wife Melania Trump.

The accusations, fueled by viral social media videos and posts, have spread across the internet like a wildfire. But it is true or just hyperbole, let’s unpack the full story below.

Claims: Trump gave 'Nazi salute' at Fourth of July fireworks

The outlandish rumours caught public attention after a Tiktok video went viral, alleging to show the president giving the ‘Nazi salute’ while attending the White House's Fourth of July fireworks gathering.

In the video, Trump was captured blowing a kiss while swinging his right arm to the side, then following it up with a second kiss, this time paired with a raised hand wave directed at the cheering crowd.

The TikTok video, with more than 333,000 views, featured the caption, "Everyone was talking about the kiss, but that's not what I was shocked by…"

After deleting the post, the TikTok user again shared the same video to counter another user who had initially assumed the clip was artificially generated using AI.

Several other users circulated the same video across Facebook, Reddit, and X, including with captions accusing Trump of making a “Nazi salute” or shouting “Sieg Heil.”

“Here is trump doing a variation of the the nazi salute on the 4th of July firework celebration,” one user wrote on Facebook.

Fact Check: False, the video is miscaptioned

Although the video was authentic and unaltered, Trump’s gestures didn’t match the definition of a “Nazi salute” also referred to as a "Roman salute”.

The video simply showed Trump blowing two kisses to the crowd that had gathered to watch him and Melania attend the Fourth of July fireworks celebration at the White House.

The White House also denied accusations of Trump giving Nazi salutes, telling fact checking forum, Snopes, that “This is obviously not true.”

This is not the first time a republican has been accused of giving Nazi salute.

Earlier this year, in January, tech billionaire and former White House adviser Elon Musk was accused of giving the infamous salute as he made the salute gesture twice in front of the audience at Trump’s Inauguration Day.

"Thank you. My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured, thanks to you,” the Tesla CEO said as he made the gesture.

Musk’s gesture sparked a wide outrage with many users comparing it to Nazi salute. In response, the SpaceX and Tesla chief posted on X: "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."