Is President Donald Trump going to visit Southend-on-Sea when he visits the U.K. in July of 2018? No, that rumor originated on a satirical website, it is not true.
It came from an article published on April 26, 2018 by the Southend News Network which was titled "Donald Trump's UK trip to include a visit to Southend-on-Sea" (archived here) and opened:
A spokesperson for The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump's July 2018 visit to the United Kingdom will include a trip down to the Essex seaside for a tour of Southend-on-Sea.
The President of the United States will finally be arriving in the country this Summer after months of negotiations, and his Press Secretary Sarah Huckerbee-Sanders told Southend News Network that the South Essex town has always been on his list of top destinations.
The story looked like a real news article to users on social media, possibly confusing some of them in believing it was real:
Donald Trump's UK trip to include a visit to Southend-on-Sea
A spokesperson for The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump's July 2018 visit to the United Kingdom will include a trip down to the Essex seaside for a tour of Southend-on-Sea. The President of the United States will finally be arriving in the country this Summer after months of negotiations, and his Press Secretary...
But The Southend News Network is a satirical site pretending to be a news organisation by the English coast in Southend. They have a disclaimer on their about page that reads (in part):
Southend News Network was originally started in October 2015 with no real aims or objectives in mind other than to add a satirical/spoof-like touch to issues that people are passionate about in Southend On Sea. Above all else, SNN is all about having the occasional 'dig' at the powers that be, as well a slightly bigger and more frequent 'dig' at certain elements of local media!
Several of their stories have been mistaken for real news in the past and the site was recognized by the local authorities as an "official news outlet".
We wrote about southendnewsnetwork.net before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Channel Tunnel NOT To Close Permanently On 30th April In Brexit DisputeÂ
- Fake News: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Did NOT Name Baby Boy 'Leroy'
- Fake News: NO Police Warning, NO Killer Animals Escaped From Essex Zoo
- Fake News: 100% (NOT Just 84%) of UK's Tap Water is Halal
- Fake News: Islamic State NOT Invited To Enter 2018 Eurovision Song Contest
