Fabricated Trump quote on detained Philippine ex-leader misleads online
- Published on January 12, 2026 at 09:27
- 2 min read
- By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines
After Donald Trump launched a lightning operation to topple Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, rumours surfaced online that the US president announced he would next free former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte from detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The graphic shared in the posts bears no resemblance to official statements released by the White House, and there was no record of Trump issuing such remarks on his social media.
"Like what I did to Venezuelan President Maduro, I will do to Former President Rodrigo Duterte," reads a graphic that bears the seal of the President of the United States, shared on Facebook on January 5, 2026.
It goes on to say Trump vowed to "missile Duterte out" and bring him home.
"My troops are ready to pick him up from the ICC Detention Center. I stand with my dear friend from the Philippines, he did nothing wrong."
The graphic also circulated in other Facebook posts following the Trump administration's snatch-and-grab raid in the oil-rich South American nation (archived link).
US commandos carried out airstrikes on Venezuela's capital Caracas to capture Maduro and his wife, who were flown to New York City where they face drug trafficking and weapons charges. Both pleaded not guilty.
Former Philippine leader Duterte is detained at the ICC in The Hague, where he faces crimes against humanity charges over his brutal war on drugs (archived link).
Trump has long been hostile to the UN-backed court and his administration has slapped key ICC officials with sanctions for their probes of alleged Israeli war crimes (archived link).
Several users appeared to believe the circulating graphic shows a genuine statement from the Republican president.
"Thank you Pres. Trump please help our president Du30 bring him back to the Philippines please," read one user comment, using a popular nickname for Duterte.
Another said: "We are happy and thankful. Hoping this will come TRUE."
However, as of January 12, there have been no official reports to support the claim.
Trump described his relationship with his then-Philippine counterpart as "very good" in 2017, but has criticised the Duterte administration during a July meeting with incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos, saying "they did not know what they were doing" (archived here and here).
Falsified quote
There was no record of the supposed statement to free Duterte on official White House platforms or on Trump's verified accounts, including his social media platform Truth Social (archived here and here).
A review of the Wayback Machine and Trump's Truth, an independent archive of all his posts, also found no trace of the quote (archived here and here).
AFP contacted the US Embassy in Manila for comment but did not receive a response.
A comparison between the fabricated graphic and recent White House posts featuring genuine Trump statements show differences in style and formatting, including the colour of the text and the use of the White House logo (archived here and here).
Philippine media organisations Vera Files and Rappler have also fact-checked similar claims (archived here and here).
AFP has repeatedly debunked fabricated Trump quotes including one purportedly expressing his support after Duterte's arrest.
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