Fact Check: Did Trump announce changing JD Vance’s name to Judas in a social media post?
WASHINGTON, DC: After the Republican Party’s historic rout in the midterm election, a rumor is circulating online claiming President Donald Trump announced he is changing Vice President JD Vance’s name to Judas, suggesting that Vance betrayed Trump. The claim has sparked mockery and concern, with users calling for a fact-check.
Claim: Trump is changing JD Vance's name to 'Judas Disloyal Vance'
The rumor appeared as a post on X, claiming to show a screenshot of a Truth Social post by the president.
The alleged post read, “I'm hereby signing an EXCLUSIVE ORDER legally changing JD Vance's name to JUDAS DISLOYAL VANCE!"
"Nobody gave JD more than President Trump. I took him from the sidelines and gave him the biggest job of his life-and now he thinks he can DOUBLE CROSS THE BOSS and run for President in 2028 without my blessing? EHHH! WRONG!"
"You don't walk into the Trump Family, eat at the table, kiss the ring, and then decide you're the new Boss!"
"There is only ONE person who can make America Great Again the RIGHT WAY, and everybody knows who that is. JD, you may have forgotten who made you-but I NEVER forget! THE PRESIDENT HAS SPOKEN.”
The screenshot has been shared by several accounts across social media, garnering more than a million views. Many users appear to believe it is an authentic post by Trump, while others called it fabricated.
Fact Check: Donald Trump made no such post
The claim, however, is false, as no such post exists on any of Trump’s official social media accounts.
A search of his Truth Social account, as well as the commentary accounts on X that automatically archive all his Truth Social posts, yielded no results that match the text in the screenshot.
A Google search to ascertain whether he posted and then deleted the post also yielded no results, which, if true, would have been widely covered by credible news outlets.
Trump pushed back on JD Vance's Iran war assessment
The screenshot surfaced after Trump, on Sunday, pushed back against Vance’s assessment that the Iran war was responsible for the GOP losses in the midterms, saying that Vance had left out an important part of the argument.
When asked whether Vance’s comments questioning some of the administration’s decisions on Iran had affected their relationship. “No, not at all,” Trump said, before adding that the vice president’s assessment had instead drawn criticism from others.
