Footage of California Trump sign resurfaces in misleading posts

Published on January 22, 2025 at 22:37
2 min read
By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA

Social media users are claiming supporters of US President Donald Trump erected a sign in Los Angeles, California, days before his January 20, 2025 inauguration. But the video is more than four years old, showing a structure that was put up and quickly taken down during the Republican's first stint in office.

"Who in LA just constructed a full scale TRUMP sign in the hills along the 405 freeway?" says a January 18, 2025 post on X.

Screenshot from X taken January 22, 2025

Similar posts spread across X and other platforms in the days before Trump returned to the White House -- and as Californians reeled from weeks of devastating wildfires that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia state lawmaker who was convicted for storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, amplified the footage to his more than 790,000 followers on X, saying it came from the local TV station KTLA 5.

Evans was among the more than 1,500 rioters whom Trump pardoned on his first day of office.

The footage of the Trump sign is indeed from KTLA 5, reverse image searches revealed. But it dates to October 2020, long before Trump's inauguration in 2025.

The outlet posted the footage to X on October 6, 2020, writing that it was unclear who was responsible for the sign (archived here).

A Trump sign was erected on the hillside along the 405 Freeway near the Sepulveda Pass. It’s unclear who put it there : Sky5 pic.twitter.com/ac71WxbYW2
— KTLA (@KTLA) October 6, 2020

The Los Angeles Times also published footage of the structure (archived here).

Reports from the two outlets said state crews swiftly took down the sign, which was on private property because it created a traffic hazard by distracting drivers who were slowing down to view it and snap photos (archived here and here).

The CBS affiliate KCAL captured aerial footage of a crew dismantling the sign (archived here).

A similar sign appeared in another location days later, according to the local NBC affiliate.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.