Trump social media rant calling for alcohol ban is fake

"@realDonaldTrump wants to take away your alcohol and shut down bars," says a January 12, 2026 post on X.

It shares what appears to be a screenshot of a January 11 post on X from Trump's official account, in which the president decries "RAGING ALCOHOLICS everywhere."

"Maybe it's time to seriously look at the 18th Amendment Prohibition, to ban alcohol permanently," the message continues, before calling to "MAKE AMERICA SOBER AGAIN!"

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Screenshot of an X post taken January 15, 2026

In 1920 the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol was banned in the United States -- a policy enshrined in the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution (archived here and here). The 21st Amendment, repealing the ban, was ratified on December 5, 1933 (archived here and here).

Additional posts sharing the same purported screed against alcohol consumption spread across X and other platforms, including Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook. They circulated as many Americans participated in "Dry January," an annual challenge to follow an alcohol-free lifestyle for the first month of the year.

Gallup polling from August 2025 found that fewer Americans report drinking alcohol than at any point in the service's 90 years of data collection, coinciding with a growing belief "that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one's health" (archived here).

But Trump's apparent rant against "drinking culture" is not real.

The supposed post is dated January 11, 2026. But in reality, there are no posts on the president's official X account since December 24, 2025 (archived here), nor is there any matching communication on Trump's Truth Social account, where he posts more often.

Archives of the president's X account, captured January 11 and January 12, do not include the post on prohibition, either.

Similarly, websites that track and archive Trump's statements show he addressed a variety of topics on January 11, but alcohol was not among them.

Comparing the alleged screenshot to an authentic X post from Trump also points to its inauthenticity.

The purported post calling for a sober America is missing a widget to "ask Grok," Musk's AI tool, in the top-right corner, as well as a share button in the bottom right. It also lacks a views count and includes language referring to "quote tweets" and "retweets" that was removed after Musk bought the platform, renamed it X and pushed for longer-form content.

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Screenshots of an authentic X post from Donald Trump (L) and a fake post falsely claimed to be from the president, with discrepancies highlighted by AFP on January 16, 2026

The fake post gained traction as the Trump administration changed the recommendations on alcohol consumption in the US Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a move that faced criticism. 

The previous guidelines placed clear limits advising "two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women" (archived here). But the new recommendations are more vague, telling Americans: "Consume less alcohol for better overall health" (archived here).

Reporting from Notus showed the alcohol industry's lobby groups spent millions to influence the guidelines.

Asked about the change, Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told a January 7, 2026 press conference: "Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together. In the best case scenario, I don't think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize and there's probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way" (archived here).

Read more of AFP's fact-checks about US politics here.