Fact Check: Yes, Trump shared video of 'Trump Gaza' — including sunbathing scene with Netanyahu
Claim:
U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video showing "Trump Gaza" that included a clip of himself and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing together.
Rating:
On Feb. 26, 2025, claims (archived) circulated (archived) online (archived) that U.S. President Donald Trump had shared a video generated by artificial intelligence showing "Trump Gaza" that included a clip of Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing together. Snopes readers asked us whether the president posted the video.
Trump's Truth Social profile (archived) did indeed contain a video matching this description, posted on Feb. 25. Therefore, we rate this claim true.
(@realDonaldTrump on Truth Social)
The video showed children walking through ruins before emerging from a tunnel into a modern oceanside resort town. It featured clips of bearded belly dancers on the beach; Trump adviser and tech mogul Elon Musk being showered with money; a large, golden Trump statue in a plaza; and people perusing smaller models of a Trump statue in a store.
The video ended on a clip of Trump and Netanyahu in sun loungers and a giant archway reading "Trump Gaza."
The soundtrack of the video, an up-tempo dance song, had the following lyrics:
Donald's coming to set you free, bringing the life for all to see. No more tunnels, no more fear. Trump Gaza is finally here. Trump Gaza, shining bright, golden future, a brand-new light. Feast and dance, the deal is done. Trump Gaza, No. 1.
Earlier in February, Trump floated the idea of a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip, the location of a deadly war between the governing party Hamas, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, and Israel.
Working with developers from around the world, the U.S. would rebuild the Gaza Strip into "one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth," Trump said on Truth Social on Feb. 6.
Trump's plan for the redevelopment of Gaza would include the relocation of Palestinians currently living there and has faced heavy criticism from human rights organizations and Palestinians alike.
The video shared by Trump was widely reported as being AI, though no reports appeared to have determined which engine was used to make it. We reached out to Open AI, a leader in the AI field including video generation, to ask whether its tools, such as Sora, were used in creating the video.
Sightengine and Hive Moderation, two AI detection models, deemed screenshots from the video showing Trump and Netanyahu sunbathing, the Trump Gaza arch and Trump dancing with a belly dancer 88-98% likely to be AI-generated. These scenes, among others, also have an "uncanny valley" quality to them that British tech magazine PCMAG UK warned is among the signs of a video being AI-generated.
Furthermore, the video depicts a fictional vision for Gaza that does not exist in reality.
The source of the video remained unclear at the time of this writing. We reached out to the White House to ask whether its staffers created the video or knew its source. In response, Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly provided a statement about Trump's Gaza plan but no answer to questions about the video's source.
The video was not widely circulated prior to Trump sharing it on Truth Social, according to searches on X and Facebook. Reverse image searches for scenes from the video revealed no obvious source aside from Trump's Truth Social profile.
@CollinRugg. "JUST IN: President Trump Shares a Video of an AI Vision for the Gaza Strip, Ends with Trump Having Drinks at a Pool with Benjamin Netanyahu." X, 26 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1894616370714730968.
"Don't Get Duped! Here's How to Spot AI-Generated Video Footage." PCMag UK, 11 Dec. 2024, https://uk.pcmag.com/ai/151615/dont-get-duped-heres-how-to-spot-ai-generated-video-footage.
D'Souza, Faye. "Donald Trump Has Uploaded an AI Generated Video on His Social Media Page That Shows a Fictional Land Called 'Trump Gaza' , Complete with a Golden Statue of Him, Money Raining from the Sky and Bearded Belly Dancers. ." Facebook, 26 Feb. 2025, https://www.facebook.com/FayeDSouzaOfficial/posts/pfbid02hLubN7H9Ds91CfVhCUG4jXFy7xyiksmbm7FCtREYzQYhFiFeZRLn9xkF1oduLyszl.
"Foreign Terrorist Organizations." United States Department of State, https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
MADHANI, AAMER, et al. "Trump Won't Rule out Deploying US Troops to Support Rebuilding Gaza, Sees 'long-Term' US Ownership." AP News, 4 Feb. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-netanyahu-washington-ceasefire-1c8deec4dd46177e08e07d669d595ed3.
Palestinians in Jabalia Reject Trump and Israel's Idea to Depopulate Gaza. apnews.com, https://apnews.com/video/palestinians-in-jabalia-reject-trump-and-israels-idea-to-depopulate-gaza-9b1e86d4cc5a4b82905fae2086adee67. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
@realDonaldTrump. "The Gaza Strip Would Be Turned over to the United States by Israel at the Conclusion of Fighting. ." Truth Social, 6 Feb. 2025, https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/29475.
---. Truth Social, 25 Feb. 2025, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114068387897265338.
Salem, Mick Krever, Mostafa. "'Trump Gaza Is Finally Here!': US President Promotes Gaza Plan in AI Video." CNN, 26 Feb. 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/26/world/trump-promotes-gaza-plan-ai-video-intl/index.html.
@sentdefender. "U.S. President Donald J. Trump Has Posted This AI Video and Song on Truth Social, Claiming to Show the 'Future' of the Gaza Strip, I'm Seriously at a Loss for Words Right Now." X, 26 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1894649212677062668.
Thurston, Joshua. Trump Shares AI Gaza Video: 'Donald Is Coming to Set You Free.' 26 Feb. 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/israel-hamas-war/article/trump-gaza-video-truth-social-hq3d0q6jf.
Trump's Remarks on Gaza "very Concerning," Human Rights Watch Says. apnews.com, https://apnews.com/video/trumps-remarks-on-gaza-very-concerning-human-rights-watch-says-a02b9b8c8cb64031834ad7706d9af019. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
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