In early November, President Donald Trump’s administration designated Nigeria as a country of special concern and threatened U.S. military action over alleged persecution of Christians. A video widely shared on social media since then claims to show him scolding Nigerian leader Bola Tinubu. However, this claim is false. This video contains visual inconsistencies that demonstrate the use of artificial intelligence tools. Moreover, the account that was first shared was an account that posts AI-generated videos.
“This is President Donald Trump’s response to President Tinubu (chic),” reads the caption of the video published in the thread on November 9, 2025.
The video, which has been shared more than 270 times, shows President Trump watching Tinubu on television.
After turning off the television, Trump is believed to have said, “I’m tired of hearing about this guy. It doesn’t make any sense. Honestly, I’m very disappointed in the Nigerian people who voted for such an ignorant man as president.”
Screenshot of incorrect thread post taken on November 24, 2025
The video also appeared in posts on Instagram and Facebook, where it was shared more than 2,500 times.
In early November, President Trump threatened to authorize military intervention in Nigeria over claims that Islamic extremists were “murdering and mass murdering Christians,” a claim the government disputes.
Nigeria is facing a jihadi conflict in the country’s northeast, where more than 40,000 people have been killed and another 2 million displaced since the insurgency began in 2009 (archive here).
The Nigerian government announced a security partnership with the United States on November 24, following consultations by a delegation led by Africa’s national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who visited Washington (archive here).
Despite Trump’s comments on Nigeria’s insecurity, the video does not show him criticizing Tinubu.
AI generated video
The video begins with President Trump watching on television as Tinubu delivers a speech saying, “No matter what President Trump is going to do, we won’t be afraid.”
An internet search for this sentence turned up a YouTube video published by the Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television on September 2, 2025 (archived here).
The title of the video is “Nigeria met revenue target but did not borrow domestically — Tinubu.”
“If non-oil revenues are good, we have no fear of what President Trump does on the other side,” Tinubu says at 6 minutes and 10 seconds into the original video.
Screenshot showing a comparison of Tinubu’s outfit in the AI-generated video (left) and the original YouTube video (right)
This footage of Tinubu is the only real part of the AI-generated video.
A separate internet search shows that unlike Tinubu, President Trump’s comments have not been quoted in any media reports.
President Trump’s voice also sounds robotic, a sign of synthetic speech.
As a soldier standing behind President Trump bends down to turn off his television screen, a strange shape appears under his armpit and one of his chest medals appears momentarily deformed.
Also, after the TV goes off, the image briefly appears on the screen again, showing a man with what appears to be a third hand extending from his elbow.
Screenshot of a person with a third hand attached to his elbow appearing on a TV screen
This video has a watermark from the TikTok account “@frankisart25.” The account is described in its bio as “the home of video editing” (archives can be found here).
Activity history also showed that the account posted AI-generated videos featuring various celebrities, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Screenshot showing an AI-generated video from a TikTok account
Hiya, an AI detection tool, flagged President Trump’s audio as “possibly AI-generated.”
Screenshot showing results from the AI detection tool Hiya
AFP Fact Check previously debunked claims about the likeness of Elon Musk and Taylor Swift.
