Fact Check: Did Trump say Jaxson Dart was not eligible for the Medal of Honor?
WASHINGTON, DC: Following the June 18 Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House, a claim began circulating on social media platforms that President Donald Trump said he wanted to give the prestigious medal to Jaxson Dart but was told the New York Giants quarterback was not eligible. Let us analyze the claim and fact-check it.
Claim: Donald Trump said he wanted to give Jaxson Dart the Medal of Honor
According to the viral claim that surfaced on X (formerly Twitter), Trump wanted to award Jaxson Dart the Medal of Honor after the Giants QB introduced him at a May 2026 political rally in New York, but Dart was ineligible as the decoration requires military combat valor.
The post was accompanied by a photo of Trump and Dart from the political rally in New York that triggered criticisms against the football player.
The claim has also spread on Instagram and Facebook, garnering thousands of views.
Fact Check: The claim originated as a satire
The claim, however, is false, as there are no reports of the president expressing a wish to award the medal to Dart.
A search on Google for relevant keywords yielded no relevant results from credible news and sports media outlets, which, if true, would not go unreported.
Moreover, the claim originated from the X account Football Crave, which describes itself as a parody account. Hence, the post was intended as a satire, made for the sake of engagement.
A Grok fact-check stated, “This is a satirical post from the parody account @FootballCravee. Donald Trump did praise Giants QB Jaxson Dart (calling him a ‘winner,’ ‘future Hall of Famer,’ etc.) after Dart introduced him at a May 2026 New York rally, but there is no record of Trump saying he wanted to award Dart the Medal of Honor or being told Dart was ineligible.”
Trump jokes about awarding himself the Medal of Honor
During Thursday’s ceremony, Trump drew laughter after joking that he had wanted to award the military's highest decoration to himself.
"Only a few have received our highest military distinction, the Congressional Medal of Honor," the Republican leader said. “I wanted to give it to myself, but I was informed I couldn’t do it.”
The remark came as he honored three service members whose actions in Vietnam and Afghanistan were recognized as acts of extraordinary bravery.
