Trump made no mention of Bangladesh or country's leadership in interview

Published on November 20, 2024 at 09:23
3 min read
By Eyamin Sajid, AFP Bangladesh

Months after Bangladesh's autocratic former premier Sheikh Hasina was toppled in a revolution, social media posts falsely claimed US President-elect Donald Trump said in a podcast interview she was still the country's prime minister because she did not resign. The prospect of Hasina's resignation being unlawful was raised when the South Asian nation's largely ceremonial president told local media he had not actually seen her resignation letter before she fled to neighbouring India. A review of Trump's podcast interview, however, showed he did not mention Bangladesh or its leadership.

"In an interview with PBD, Donald Trump said. he thinks Sheikh Hasina is still the prime minister of Bangladesh," read part of a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on November 9, 2024.

"He said to the illegal occupiers of the Bangladeshi government: 'Those who say that Sheikh Hasina has fled, show me her resignation letter'."

Attached to the post is an image of Trump mid-interview with the host of the PBD Podcast, Patrick Bet-David (archived link). Bengali-language text underneath the image reads, "I believe Hasina is still prime minister of Bangladesh: Trump".

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on November 20, 2024

The same claim was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here.

It circulated after Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin told local media he had never seen ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation letter -- raising the prospect that her departure was unlawful (archived link).

Hasina fled the capital in the face of overwhelming protests on August 5, and Shahabuddin and army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced to the nation that she had resigned.

His revelation that he had not actually seen a written letter from Hasina to that effect sparked furious protests, with demonstrators gathered outside his home demanding he step down and accusing him of residual loyalty to his one-time ally and her Awami League party.

President-elect Trump, however, did not mention Bangladesh, its leadership, or Hasina's resignation in his interview with the PBD Podcast.

Pre-election interview

Trump's interview was published on the verified PBD Podcast YouTube channel on October 17 (archived link).

The video is titled, "Donald Trump Gets Emotional-Speaks On Tariffs, Obama & Iran".

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image used in the false post (left) and a still from the 12:34 mark of the interview (right):

Screenshot comparison between the image used in the false post (left) and a still from the interview (right)

There is no mention of Bangladesh or Hasina in the one-hour, 26-minute episode.

A write-up of the interview posted by ABC News also makes no mention of Trump talking about Bangladesh (archived link).

Trump did post about Bangladesh on his official X account on October 31, saying, "I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos" (archived link).

His post, however, does not mention Hasina or the country's leadership.

AFP has previously debunked claims misrepresenting Trump interviews here and here.

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