Fact Check: Was Trump's face unveiled at Mount Rushmore ahead of July 4th celebrations?
KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA: Ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore, as the country prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, a video began circulating on social media platforms claiming to show Trump’s face being unveiled at the monument. Let us analyze and fact-check the video.
Claim: Donald Trump's face unveiled at Mount Rushmore
The claim surfaced after a video on X went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
The viral video shows workers dramatically unveiling Donald Trump's face added to Mount Rushmore before transitioning to nighttime spotlights and fireworks over the monument.
The video has sparked mixed reactions, with many expressing disbelief at the president’s face being added all of a sudden and criticizing the alleged development. Meanwhile, a few others expressed skepticism and dismissed the video as fabricated, prompting a fact check.
Fact Check: False, the viral video is fabricated
However, as cited by the users in the comments, the video is fabricated, and no such alteration took place at the iconic monument along with existing presidents ahead of the Fourth of July celebrations.
The clip includes several signs of being generated using Artificial Intelligence, such as Trump's face showing unnatural seams and soft, blurry transitions where it meets the rock. Also, the size of the workers on top of the monument is relatively bigger.
Recent footage and images from the event at the monument show no such developments.
A fact check by Grok stated, “It is a CGI/AI-generated meme. No workers unveiled or carved Trump's face on Mount Rushmore. Visual analysis shows compositing artifacts, impossible physics (tarp/dust), and abrupt day-to-night transitions.”
Donald Trump hails America in July 4 speech
During his speech at the monument on Friday, July 3, Trump began his remarks by addressing the crowd after supporters chanted, "USA! USA! USA!" Greeting attendees, he said, "I want to thank you all for being here. This is a big crowd. This is a lovely crowd. And what a sight it is."
"Nothing like it. In all the chronicles of the ages, never before has any nation celebrated so magnificent a triumph as this one, the one that we are participating in right now," Trump said.
"America is the oldest republic on Earth. We are the freest people on Earth. We have the most righteous and enduring Constitution on Earth."
Trump added, "The United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history."
