Did a video shared widely in May 2025 authentically show President Donald Trump describing the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio as "the largest environmental terror attack in world history" and "an inside job"? No, that's not true: Trump never made such remarks. The clip in question contained fake audio and edited mouth movements, both likely the products of AI.
The video first appeared in a May 8, 2025, post on X (archived here). The caption read: "Trump just said the quiet part out loud. Again. Unreal."
The video shows Trump sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, and the fake Trump voice can be heard making the following remarks:
...Back to the matter at hand, East Palestine, Ohio. It was the largest environmental terror attack in world history and it was an inside job. My administration and I will be opening a full investigation, and when we find out who was responsible, either directly or indirectly, those people -- those awful, awful individuals -- will be facing the death penalty.
The clip can be viewed below:
Trump just said the quiet part out loud. Again. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/7eLg2cYqCk
-- Maverick Alexander (@MaverickDarby) May 8, 2025
In reality, Trump never uttered those words, and the audio was fake. The voice, as well as Trump's mouth movements, were likely the product of AI.
The authentic, original video footage that was used as the basis for the digitally manipulated "East Palestine" version was recorded on May 8, 2025, at the announcement of a trade deal between the United States and United Kingdom. At no point did Trump, or anyone else, mention East Palestine:
The account that produced the fake "East Palestine" clip, @MaverickDarby, describes their output as "mostly satire", and has a record of posting widely-shared hoax videos that use AI audio.
However, the May 8 video was re-posted by others on different platforms, without disclaimers about satire and AI, and resulted in many social media users believing the clip was authentic.
