Trump insult directed at special counsel, not former South Korean leader

"Trump asks, 'Is Yoon deranged?'" reads a Korean-language Facebook post shared on August 27, 2025.

A link to a YouTube video -- news coverage of Trump's meeting with Lee -- is attached to the post, with text on the clip's thumbnail reading: "President Lee explained the situation with the insurrection. Trump said 'Is it that deranged person?'"

It surfaced after Trump hosted Lee at the White House, with the leaders discussing the country's alliance, trade, North Korea and Seoul's recent political upheavals (archived link).

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on August 27, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Similar claims that Trump had insulted Yoon during the meeting also circulated among pro-ruling party Facebook and YouTube accounts, with some users portraying the exchange as a public humiliation of Yoon and praising Trump for "speaking the truth".

Footage of the meeting posted on the White House's verified YouTube channel, however, shows Trump's remarks were not directed at Yoon (archived link).

At the 39:52 mark, a reporter asks about Trump taking to social media hours before the meeting to denounce what he said was a "Purge or Revolution" in South Korea, apparently over raids that involved churches.

Lee explains to Trump there is an investigation examining what he called Yoon's "self-coup", and stressed that a raid on US military bases had targeted South Korean, not American, personnel (archived link).

As a translator relays Lee's points about the appointment of a special prosecutor, Trump interjects to ask: "Is his name deranged Jack Smith, by any chance? Because he's a deranged, sick individual."

Smith -- who Trump has repeatedly disparaged -- was appointed as US special counsel in 2022, and charged Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House (archived here, here and here).

Neither case ever came to trial, and the special counsel -- in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president -- dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election. Smith then resigned before Trump could fulfil his campaign pledge to fire him.

While Lee mentions "the former president", Trump does not make any reference to Yoon or use his name.

There have been no official reports of Trump describing Yoon as "deranged" during the White House meeting.

AFP has also debunked other false claims from South Korea that misrepresented remarks by Trump.