Did Donald Trump mistakenly read "state your name" instead of using his own name while swearing in newly enlisted U.S. troops during the half-time of a Washington Commanders - Detroit Lions game? No, that's not true: Prompting "state your name" is how the officiating officer does it, reminding oath takers to say their name aloud as they repeat the oath back to the officiant. Trump was not the one taking the oath. He was the one administering the oath, as full-length video of the event shows.
The claim appeared in a November 9, 2025 X post (archived here) on the @highprogressive account as the description of a video of Trump reading the oath:
Funniest part of this is actually him saying "[state your name]" out loud instead of using his name.
This is what the video looked like on X at the time this fact check was written:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of video at x.com/highprogressive/status/1987667431909687318.)
In the full-length video of the ceremony, found on the YouTube channel of WKYC television, Trump reads out the standard oath:
Please raise your right hands
I, and state your name, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, so help me God.
Congratulations
That is the standard way that an oath is administered. Official copies of the oath leave a blank where the person is expected to state their name, as seen below on the websites of the U.S. Navy (archived here) and U.S. Army (archived here):
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of oath found at https://www.navy.mil/about/our-heritage/.)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of oath found at https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html.)
