On February 9-10, Georgian (1, 2, 3, 4,) and Russian-language (1, 2, 3, 4,) Facebook accounts shared a video in which former U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have spoken with Vladimir Putin over the phone. Specifically, in the video, Trump says, “I did have a phone conversation with him. I told Vladimir this (war) needs to be stopped. He agreed but said that Russian interests must come first because they have already put some territories in their constitution even though they don’t control them. So I said, ‘Vladimir, listen, this is total bullshit – not happening. You’ve got to understand, I am not Joe Biden. You either take a fair deal, or we’ll make sure that some Russian territories end up in the Ukrainian constitution, and believe me, people are going to love it.”
It should be noted that while some versions of the video are in English, most have been translated into Russian. Additionally, the footage includes the logo of the Russian state media outlet Russia-1, indicating that the video was featured in one of their broadcasts.
The information presented in the video has been disseminated not only on Facebook but also by Russian media outlets Царьград and news-kharkov.ru.
The circulated video, in which Donald Trump talks about handing over Russian territories to Ukraine, has been digitally altered. The movement of his lips and, consequently, the text have likely been modified using artificial intelligence. There is no confirmation from official sources that the U.S. president made such a statement, nor has it appeared on Russia-1. Footage from the video confirms that it was cut from a briefing on a different topic, during which the war in Ukraine was not discussed.
Myth Detector was not able to find any credible open-source information verifying that Donald Trump said that he actually threatened Putin with transferring certain Russian territories to Ukraine. Notably, in a recent interview with the New York Post, Trump did confirm that he spoke to the Russian president over the phone. However, the article does not mention any of the details presented in the video.
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Where Did the Video Originate?
During the search for the original source of the circulated video, the earliest uploaded Russian-dubbed version was found on the Ukrainian Telegram channel “БАЗА, це Хʼюстон” (Base, This is Houston), where it was published on February 9 at 19:40. The English-language version appeared on the same account shortly after, at 19:49.
The description on this Telegram channel states that the group “reacts to news using creative technologies” and produces greeting videos featuring famous personalities, with the proceeds donated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A link to their website is also provided, where the homepage displays the message: “We make cool deepfakes.” The site also offers the option to order a custom video.
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What Footage Was Used to Fabricate the Circulated Video?
We analyzed the video shared on Facebook using reverse search tools InVid and Reveye and identified the original video that was partially used to create the fabricated clip. Specifically, on January 30, President Donald Trump held a press briefing at the White House, where he provided media representatives with information about the tragic incident near Ronald Reagan Airport, in which a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter, resulting in 67 fatalities. The briefing lasted 35 minutes, and the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin was mentioned only once when a journalist asked Trump whether he had spoken to Putin about the tragedy. Trump responded, “No, not about this.”
Starting at the 32nd second of the edited version of the video, members of the press can be seen raising their hands to ask questions.
In the recording of the briefing held at the White House on January 30, we see members of the press multiple times, and it is easy to distinguish that we are looking at the exact same people, wearing identical clothing, seated or standing in the same order.
We also attempted to determine whether the video fabrication appeared in a Russia-1 report. To do this, we watched recordings of news broadcasts from the past week but did not find a similar report. However, it should be noted that original footage from Trump’s briefing, with an accurate translation, aired on the network on January 31 (starting at 23:14) and February 2 (starting at 1:13:00).
Notably, on January 23, 2025, the Telegram channel “БАЗА, це Хʼюстон” also posted a fabricated video of Donald Trump featuring the Russia-1 logo, in which he was threatening Vladimir Putin and advising him not to share the fate of Saddam Hussein, Ceaușescu, and Gaddafi. See more in Myth Detector’s material.
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