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Claim: A Facebook user shared a video suggesting that Donald Trump mocked Zelensky’s outfit and said it was from Temu.
Verdict: False! No reliable sources confirm that Trump made such a statement, and analysis using Hive.ai confirmed that the video was artificially generated.
Full Text
On February 28, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia. Zelensky hoped to strengthen diplomatic ties and finalise a minerals deal to bolster Ukraine’s economy while demonstrating appreciation for U.S. assistance. However, the meeting quickly became tense.
During the discussions, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III.” The conversation grew heated, and the meeting ended abruptly, with Zelenskyy asked to leave before the minerals deal could be signed.
Following the dispute, Trump suggested freezing U.S. military aid to Ukraine, raising concerns about the country’s defence. In response, Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to peace talks. Meanwhile, European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, voiced strong support for Zelensky, emphasising the need for continued assistance to Ukraine.
Shortly after the incident, a Facebook user @SakaFadiTv shared a video of Donald Trump on March 2, 2025, in an interview criticising the outfit Zelensky wore to the meeting.
In the 59-second video, he is heard saying, “President Zelensky showed up to the White House wearing an outfit from Temu, and I found that very disrespectful. I am going to start calling him Temu Zelensky from now on. Someone get this guy a suit.”
He continued, “Sleepy Joe gave this guy $500 billion, and he can’t even afford a $1,000 suit? What a cheap guy. He spent all the money US taxpayers gave him on the Temu app. He should use Amazon so our taxpayer money doesn’t go to China…”
As of March 4, 2025, the video had minimal engagement on its original platform, with 251 views, two shares, and one comment.
However, a similar version was traced to TikTok, where it gained more traction. This TikTok version included edited captions that exaggerated Trump’s remarks, framing his statement as a major controversy.
The video quickly went viral, amassing 1.7 million views, 9,913 comments, 41,000 likes, 5,131 bookmarks, and 14,500 shares, primarily from users who believed Trump had made the claim. While some were outraged by his alleged criticism of Zelensky, others supported his stance.
For instance, @Elske Callebaut reacted, “OMG, what a materialistic person. Zelensky never wants to wear a suit again, he said, until the war ends. Who are you to order him around? This makes me so angry.”
@BarbaraZowada commented, “Bravo, Mr. President Trump.”
@SvetlaTodorova added, “Finally, someone says how ridiculous the President of Ukraine is.”
Given the growing attention on TikTok, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA used keywords from the Facebook video shared to search for evidence of Donald Trump giving an interview as portrayed in the footage. We found nothing from reliable sources; instead, the search led back to the same posts circulating on Facebook here, here, and here.
Given the noticeable oddities in Trump’s speech pattern and the overall unnatural appearance of the video, DUBAWA subjected the footage to deepware.ai, which found no evidence of deepfake manipulation.
However, the results were inconclusive, prompting further analysis using Hive.ai, an AI image detection tool. This confirmed that the image in the video was AI-generated.
While scrutinising social media posts and reports surrounding Donald Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, a clip from the Daily Post was found where a journalist questioned Zelensky about his attire. The reporter asked why the Ukrainian president wore his signature military-style outfit instead of a suit, particularly during high-level diplomatic meetings.
In response, Zelensky explained that he had chosen to forgo formal suits to symbolise solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, vowing not to wear one until the war ended. This exchange flared up discussions online, with some defending Zelensky’s decision as a representation of fortitude while others criticised it as inappropriate for diplomatic settings.
Given the existing discourse around Zelensky’s attire, the creators of the AI-generated video falsely depicting Trump insulting his outfit and linking it to Temu may have leveraged these prior discussions to make it more believable. Knowing Trump’s history of making blunt and controversial remarks, they likely crafted a statement that aligned with his public persona, increasing the chances that audiences would accept it as real.
Conclusion
The video was fabricated using AI. While debates about Zelensky’s attire exist, there is no evidence that Trump made the alleged remarks.
