Fact Check: Donald Trump Jr. is accused of hunting protected duck in Italy. Here's the context
In December 2024, Donald Trump Jr. illegally hunted a protected bird in the Venice region of Italy.
Rating:
What's True:
Italian politicians have filed complaints against Donald Trump Jr., who appeared in a video showing off the ducks he shot, including a rust-colored duck that is reportedly protected across Europe. The complaint says not only was it illegal for him to shoot a rare duck, it was also illegal for him to hunt in Italy as a nonresident.
What's Undetermined:
An investigation was needed to verify that the duck in the video was indeed a ruddy shelduck — known as a casarca in Italy — a protected species in Europe. Also, while Trump was showing it off, it is not clear that he shot it. Further, the president of Italy's Hunting Federation said it may not have been illegal for Trump to hunt as nonresident.
In early February 2025, claims spread on social media that Donald Trump Jr., the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, had illegally shot ducks in Italy. For example, a user posted the claim on X (archived) on Feb. 3:
The post had 2.5 million views as of this writing, and it had been shared more than 11,000 times.
It is true that politicians in Italy accused Trump of hunting a protected species illegally and filed complaints against him, though judicial proceedings had yet to start. The type of duck in the video had not been confirmed, and it was unclear whether Trump himself shot it. For these reasons, we have rated this claim a mixture of truth and undetermined information.
On Feb. 3, Andrea Zanoni, a regional councillor of Veneto, the region around Venice, outlined the accusations against Trump in a Facebook post:
A translation of the post to English showed that Zanoni had reported the incident to the Veneto regional government, and that Luana Zanella, a member of the Italian parliament, had reported it to the Italian government (emphasis ours):
In a video by Field Ethos — the global hunt for adventure — I observed several duck hunting scenes in the Venice lagoon, recently filmed in Valle Pierimpié in Campagna Lupia (VE).
[…]
The video shows some people, including Donald Trump Junior, while they kill several ducks.
The video shows Trump J. with a Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferrugginea) in the foreground, a duck that is very rare in Europe and protected by the EU Birds Directive and by the Italian law on the protection of wild fauna, L. 157/1992. Killing or keeping this animal is punishable by law and therefore, under Italian law, constitutes a specific crime under the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
Trump J. could not have hunted in Italy. Only residents of one of the Italian regions can hunt in Italy because it is mandatory to have a hunting license that is issued by law by the Region of residence of the applicant.
I have submitted a question so that the Region reports what sanctions it intends to implement, such as the suspension or revocation of the authorization against the hunting wildlife company and those responsible for acts in violation of Italian and European regulations. The Hon. Luana Zanella of the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra [Left and Green Alliance] did the same thing, addressing it to the Italian government.
[…]
The current Meloni government now seems to be held on a leash by the new U.S. political program, with USAF military exercises in EU-protected areas in the Treviso area (I reported the facts last week regarding the site of the Piave graves in Ciano del Montello) and now Trump's son is hunting protected species in the Venice lagoon.
Veneto and Italy are not U.S. property.
The politicians based their accusations on a widely shared video in which Trump shows off what he calls "a rather uncommon duck for the area" — which his accusers identified as a ruddy shelduck, a protected species in the European Union Birds Directive as well as Italian law. The ruddy shelduck is one of the species listed in the European Red List of Birds, which assesses the extinction risk of the continent's birds.
Zenella also claimed that Trump, as a nonresident, would not have been able to obtain the necessary hunting license.
The regional newspaper Corriere del Veneto published the video, which was reportedly produced by Field Ethos, a company Trump has cofounded that organizes hunting adventure trips. We could not find the original video on Field Ethos' website or YouTube feed. The video also appeared in an article by The Guardian, credited to Corriere del Veneto.
The Guardian article quoted Massimo Buconi, president of Italy's Hunting Federation, as saying that while it may not be true that Trump was barred from hunting in Italy for not being a resident, if the duck in question was found to have been a ruddy shelduck, Trump's shoot would indeed be illegal. "At a glance it looks like a ruddy shelduck," he told The Guardian. "I don't know if it's protected in America, but in Europe, and in Italy, it is protected. You cannot hunt it."
Italian media outlets have reported that Trump visited Italy with his girlfriend, Bettina Anderson, in December 2024, which may have been when the video was filmed.
We have contacted Zanoni, Zanella, Buconi and Trump to confirm the details of the story. We have also contacted Field Ethos asking for more information.
Snopes has previously looked into the legitimacy of an image showing Trump holding a severed elephant tail during an African hunting trip.
'Donald Trump Jr. Slammed by Italian Lawmakers over Alleged Illegal Duck Hunt'. POLITICO, 4 Feb. 2025, https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-jr-iraly-duck-hunt-illegal-footage-birds-animals-shooting/.
European Red List of Birds. 2021, https://www.birdlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BirdLife-European-Red-List-of-Birds-2021.pdf.pdf.
'Home'. Andrea Zanoni, https://www.andreazanoni.it/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
'Italian Politicians Seek Action against Trump Jr. Hunting Party for Allegedly Killing Protected Duck'. AP News, 4 Feb. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/italy-trump-jr-duck-hunt-investigation-415a449c345800ee974bc12738fc4be1.
Niranjan, Ajit, and Ajit Niranjan Europe environment correspondent. 'Donald Trump Jr Accused of Killing Protected Bird in Venice Lagoon'. The Guardian, 4 Feb. 2025. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/04/donald-trump-jr-accused-of-killing-protected-bird-in-venice-lagoon.
Roeloffs, Mary Whitfill. 'Donald Trump Jr. Accused Of Killing Protected Duck In Italy'. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/02/04/donald-trump-jr-accused-of-killing-protected-duck-in-italy/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
'Stories of Adventure and Cool Gear'. Field Ethos, https://fieldethos.com/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
The Birds Directive - European Commission. 23 Jan. 2025, https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/birds-directive_en.
XIX Legislatura - Deputati e Organi - Scheda deputato - ZANELLA Luana. https://www.camera.it/leg19/29?shadow_deputato=300469&idLegislatura=19. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
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