Video of Trump collapsing outside limo is AI-generated
- Published on July 27, 2026 at 22:18
- 2 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
A video spreading across platforms purports to show Donald Trump falling to his knees and needing help to get into his presidential limousine, but it is a fabrication that was manipulated using artificial intelligence, according to the TikTok user who first posted it. Authentic footage of the moment shows the 80-year-old US president moving gingerly, but never collapsing.
"Did you see this? Did Trump's knees just give out, or did he need to rest?" says a July 24, 2026 post sharing the clip on X.
Text over the frame adds: "Not much longer huh Donny?"
Similar posts racked up views across X and other platforms, including Facebook, Threads, Bluesky and Reddit, 100 days before November's US midterm elections that could reshape the remainder of Trump's term.
Trump, the oldest US president ever inaugurated, has been dogged by questions about his physical and mental health throughout his second stint in the White House, although the 80-year-old Republican has largely avoided the heightened scrutiny over age that shadowed his predecessor Joe Biden.
The "Make America Great Again" leader has repeatedly pushed back against suggestions that he has dozed off during cabinet meetings and other White House events.
Trump's doctor said after a medical check-up before his birthday in June that he was in "excellent health" but needed to lose weight. He is on three medications, two of which are designated for cholesterol control and the third being aspirin for "cardiac prevention."
But the widespread video that depicts the president falling before stepping into his presidential limousine is an AI-generated fabrication.
A TikTok handle visible in the corner of the clip traces it to a July 24 post from the user "@mistertimothytimes" that has been viewed more than 4.5 million times (archived here).
While the post did not carry one of TikTok's AI-generated labels, its caption ended with a disclaimer: "Video is AI, but all the same."
The next day, the user added a stronger warning, amending the caption to read: "Edit 07/25/26 This is AI. As I stated at the bottom of this (original description below) yet no one clicks 'more'. So I had to edit this today and put it at the top."
He uploaded another video further clarifying that the Trump clip was AI-generated (archived here).
An analysis using the Hive Moderation tool also determined that the visual was "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content."
The clip contains visual irregularities typical of AI content, including a moment in which the body of the Secret Service agent depicted assisting Trump converges with the vehicle stationed behind Trump's limousine.
Reverse image searches surfaced the authentic footage on which the fake appears to have been based, shared by Fox News on X (archived here).
President Trump departs the White House as he makes his way to North Dakota for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 1, 2026
He's heading to Joint Base Andrews, where he'll board the new Air Force One for the first time. pic.twitter.com/EYC8DsZ4aU
The X post said Trump was leaving the White House on July 1 to travel to North Dakota, where he attended an event at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The original, unedited clip showed the president stepping into the automobile slowly but without collapsing.
AFP also distributed photos of Trump approaching the motorcade that day.
AFP has fact-checked other misinformation related to Trump here.
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