Does a real video show Trump touching and kissing the belly of a man in the middle of an announcement in the Oval Office? No, that's not true: This video has been digitally altered using AI. The video shows the grouping of people who were actually present in the Oval Office, but the scene with the man's belly is fake. The person who edited and posted the video later commented, "And I can't actually believe this but because I'm seeing a lot of comments thinking this is real I need to point out: it is NOT. It is a PARODY."
The altered video appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @PaulleyTicks on May 21, 2026. It was captioned:
BREAKING: Donald Trump sexually assaults an elderly man's belly button in the oval office, live on camera.
This is a screenshot from the 29-second clip:
(Image source: @PaulleyTicks post on X.)
The NewsNation chyron in the screenshot is authentic. However the video also features the watermark of @PaulleyTicks. The account carries the tagline, "Changing the world by any 'memes' necessary." Less than two hours after making the post, @PaulleyTicks commented (archived here) to clarify that the post was not real and is a parody (embedded below).
And I can't actually believe this but because I'm seeing a lot of comments thinking this is real I need to point out: it is NOT.
-- PaulleyTicks (@PaulleyTicks) May 21, 2026
It is a PARODY.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
The real Oval Office event (embedded below) was broadcast live on May 21, 2026, by the White House and other news channels. Although broadcast live by NewsNation, the full video does not appear on its social media accounts. At no point in the 48-minute, 36-second White House video is the belly of the man in the background exposed or touched.
In the first seconds of a reel published on the NewsNation Facebook page on May 21, 2026 (pictured below) the same NewsNation chyron wording appears along with the same group of people standing behind Trump (archived here).
(Image source: NewsNation post on Facebook.)
Lead Stories has published fact check articles on several other parody videos posted by @PaulleyTicks in the past (archived here).
