More falsified Trump quotes surface after Duterte arrest

Published on March 20, 2025 at 10:15
3 min read
By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines

US President Donald Trump has not threatened to punish the Philippines with tariffs following the stunning arrest of the Southeast Asian nation's former leader. The rumours are part of a wave of falsified news graphics shared by supporters of Rodrigo Duterte who was sent to The Hague in March to face a crimes against humanity charge.

"I will tell you now, if the Philippines doesn't bring back Duterte, we're going to impose 50% tariffs. Big tariffs. Huge tariffs. No one wants that, believe me," reads a graphic shared on Facebook on March 12, supposedly showing Trump's remarks.

The post's caption says it was published by "BBC News".

Another graphic appearing to be from Fox News was shared more than 8,000 times on Facebook.

It also claims to show Trump's purported remarks in support for Duterte and reads in part: "I can't blame him for the war on drugs he led. He did what he had to do. Tremendous leadership. Really, I have great respect for him."

Screenshots of the false posts, taken March 19, 2025

The 79-year-old Duterte in March became the first ex-head of state from Asia charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly war on drugs that targeted mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs (archived link).

The high-profile case comes while the ICC is under sanctions by Trump -- a long-time critic of the UN-backed court -- after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (archived link).

The US president years ago sparked headlines for his pally relationship with his former Philippine counterpart but there have been no official reports of him reacting Duterte's arrest as of March 20 (archived link).

The circulating images are part of a wave of misinformation around the Philippine leader's detention -- including falsified messages of support -- that is flooding Philippine social media.

Falsified graphics

"The BBC did not publish this statement," a spokesperson for the broadcaster told AFP on March 14.

A Fox News representative separately said the circulating graphic bearing the company's logo did not originate from the network and was never posted on any of its platforms.

AFP found no record of the images on the official online platforms of the BBC and Fox News. Their style and format are also inconsistent with genuine graphics from both media organisations (archived here and here).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and a genuine graphic from the BBC

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and a genuine Fox News graphic

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