Fact Check: Is the video showing Donald Trump at Walter Reed Medical Center real?
WASHINGTON, DC: Two weeks after the unfounded rumors about President Donald Trump being admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to declining health, a video has surfaced claiming to show the president being taken to the hospital, sparking questions. Let us analyze the viral video and fact-check the claim behind it.
Claim: Video shows men assisting Donald Trump as he walks unsteadily
The video shows two men assisting Trump as he walks unsteadily out of a building. A sign on the building reads "Walter Reed National Military Medical Center."
The video was shared by multiple Facebook accounts, accompanied by a caption saying, “BREAKING: There are some reports Trump has been taken to Walter Reed Hospital."
Most of the comments under the post suggest that people believe the video to be authentic, while a few others remained sceptical, doubting whether it was generated using artificial intelligence.
Fact Check: Donald Trump video is AI-generated
The clip, however, is not real and contains signs that it was made with artificial intelligence. Politifact contacted the Walter Reed hospital’s communications office, which said that the logo shown in the video is not the hospital’s official logo, and the signage is inconsistent with that at the hospital.
A closer look at the video reveals that the text on the sign is gibberish, and the logo also doesn’t match any of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s current or previous logos.
It was also found that the video was generated using Google Gemini, which detected SynthID, a digital watermark embedded in Google AI-generated creations.
The ID is invisible to humans, but Google’s technology can identify it. The White House officials also responded, saying that no such event has occurred.
White House slams rumors suggesting Trump was ill or unable to perform his duties
The White House’s rapid-response account on X (formerly Twitter) addressed the earlier rumors suggesting that Trump was ill or unable to perform his duties.
It said, “Deranged liberals cook up insane conspiracy theories when (Trump) goes 12 hours without speaking to the press. (They said nothing when Biden routinely goes 12 days without speaking to the press.) Fear not! President Trump literally never stops working.”
There are no recent reports about Trump’s health. In fact, his calendar showed he had a policy meeting and signed executive orders on April 20, and scheduled executive time on both April 19 and 20. On April 21, Trump joined CNBC’s 'Squawk Box' for a phone interview. Trump’s Truth Social page also remained active in the last few days.
