Did President Donald Trump write a Truth Social post declaring the "Moon a U.S.A. territory," saying it has "rare Moon metals"? No, that's not true: The claim was initially posted with a satire label. Searches across Trump's posts and an archived version of his Truth Social account did not show matches to the image social media users shared with an…
Have you seen viral videos showing a father crying at the hospital bedside of his unconscious young daughter asking viewers for prayers? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such videos recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show real people or situations but appear to be modeled after social media…
Did Arnold Schwarzenegger say he was removing "negger" from his last name because it "could be offensive" and instead going by "Schwarzen"? No, that's not true: The account that posted the claim is a satire and parody entertainment site. There are no credible reports that Schwarzenegger is removing that last part of his name because it could be offensive. The…
Did Donald Trump post an animated video where he is attacking Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with a hockey stick? No, that's not true: Trump did not post an animated video of him beating Carney with a hockey stick. Trump posted a static cartoon image on his Truth Social account wearing hockey gear and holding a stick while standing over…
Did Norway's prime minister rip apart U.S. President Donald Trump's Nobel Peace Prize letter with red-pen corrections? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre graded and corrected a letter from the American president. Also, while the wording attributed to Trump is correct, the president's communication with Gahr Støre came via text message,…
Does a viral image actually prove that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz posed on camera with Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: The earliest versions of the picture contained an invisible watermark, pointing to Google AI. Case and document numbers visible on early versions of the image did not match any records in the U.S. Department of Justice's Epstein Library. The…
Does a real video show an American carrier on fire after an Iranian missile strike in the Sea of Oman in early September 2026? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that an Iranian missile strike set a U.S. carrier on fire, and no credible news organizations reported such an incident as of Sept. 8, 2026. The video has…
Did President Donald Trump make a real post calling for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate Hunter Biden's cryptocurrency coin? No, that's not true: No record of such a post on Trump's Truth Social account exists. Additionally, there are no credible reports about the supposed statement. The claim was made in a post (archived here) published on X by…
Did President Donald Trump post a photo of himself in a military uniform covered in medals? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found no record of such a post. There are also no credible reports that he shared a photo portraying himself in a military uniform covered in medals. The claim appeared in a post…
Does a video show a real incident where two erratically-driven golf carts cross into traffic near Naperville, Illinois? No, that's not true: The video has repeatedly been labeled as AI-generated across social media and shows clear signs of being AI-generated. Additionally, there are no credible reports of such an event occurring. The claim appeared in a post made on X…
Did former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George say, "Donald Trump absolutely needs to be hospitalized, I'm seriously concerned about his mental state"? No, that's not true: No evidence shows that George ever made such a statement. No credible reports from news organizations or other reliable sources support the claim. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…
Was a real photo posted on Donald Trump's Truth Social account, showing Robert De Niro posed with a "Trump Is My President" T-shirt? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated. The Hive Moderation Content Detection tool rated the image 99.5% likely to be AI-generated and the OpenAI Verify tool detected the SynthID watermark indicating the image was made with…
Does a real image show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wearing workout clothes in her kitchen? No, that's not true: The image is a manipulated screenshot from a video posted to her Instagram account, digitally altered to make her outfit appear as tight-fitting activewear. In the original video, Ocasio-Cortez is wearing a brown sleeveless dress with white polka dots.…
Did a story about House Speaker Mike Johnson moving Texas representative Jasmine Crockett's office into a filing room with no windows come from a real news website? No, that's not true: The rumor was first published by a known trollery network that adds satire labels to each of its pages. No credible media organizations reported the supposed story. The claim…
Does a video from the Epstein files show a group of people, including one who is pregnant, chained inside dog kennel cages? No, that's not true: This footage originated from a 2025 Horror production by the YouTube channel Life of Luxury. Each file in the U.S. Department of Justice's Epstein Library has a number which can be used to verify…
Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York say, "Under capitalism, man oppresses man, under socialism, it's the other way round"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Ocasio-Cortez ever made such a statement. No credible reports from news organizations or other reliable sources support the claim. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @atensnut account…
Does a real video, filmed secretly from behind a door, show Elon Musk observing a portal at SpaceX? No, that's not true: This video is linked to a creator who makes AI-generated videos and music. Although the portal video with Musk's likeness was posted without a disclaimer, one day earlier the same account published a similar video with an AI…
Did President Donald Trump die on Sept. 3, 2026? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the president of the United States had died as of early September, and no credible reports from news organizations or government officials support the claim. Trump's official social media accounts also showed activity during this period, further indicating that the claim was…
Did Donald Trump write "too many non-working holidays in America" on his social media account ahead of Labor Day 2026? No, that's not true: A review of Trump's Truth Social account found that the president made the post on June 19, 2025. While Trump did write those words, he posted them more than a year before September 2026. The claim…
Is a photo that shows Ursula von der Leyen with Jeffrey Epstein real? No, that's not true: The OpenAI Verify tool detected a SynthID watermark in the image, indicating it was generated using OpenAI tools. The case and document numbers visible on the image do not match any records published in the Department of Justice Epstein files. The claim appeared…
