Your weekly fact-checks
#TrumpCheck
Lead Stories
False: Trump proposed a bill to ban green card holders from re-entering the US if they leave.
As of June 11, 2025, no such bill on the website of Congress. An earlier June 2025 White House proclamation about new travel restrictions did not mention the purported measure.
Africa Check
False: US president Trump said he wants to buy land in Kenya.
A viral video claiming that Donald Trump wants to buy land in Kenya to plant "misheveve" (pumpkin leaves) is fake and was likely created using AI deepfake technology. There is no credible evidence or official footage to support the claim, and the video appears to have been digitally manipulated for entertainment purposes.
Lead Stories
False: Trump posted to Truth Social that he's open to reconciling with Elon as of June 11, 2025.
There is no trace of such a post on Trump's Truth Social account and none was indexed by Google. After their very public falling out in early June 2025 dominated global headlines, Trump announcing a rapprochement with billionaire industrialist Elon Musk would have been a major story, but there has been no evidence-based reporting on such a post.
#Conflicts
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: There was a massive explosion at an oil refinery Iran caused by missile strikes by Israel.
An image of a massive smoke cloud billowing from an industrial site circulated across platforms after Israeli airstrikes on June 13, 2025 hit targets across Iran, with social media users claiming the picture showed damage to an oil refinery. But the photo is unrelated, dating back to a fire at a petrochemical plant in November 2020.
Newschecker
False: An Iranian submarine fired missiles towards Israel amid the recent military escalations between the countries.
A Google Lens search on the keyframes of the viral clip led us to a YouTube video by Sky News, dated March 26, 2022. Carrying a slightly shorter version of the same clip, it stated, “The Russian military have claimed it has launched missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure from the Black Sea.”
Lead Stories
False: Military is patrolling Washington, D.C. with tanks.
The person who recorded it stated that the 10-second clip showed an armored vehicle that was in the nation's capital to participate in a military parade on June 14, 2025. That account was consistent with reports from local news outlets and earlier U.S. Army statements.
Newschecker
False: An Israeli F-16 fighter jet was shot down in Tehran along with a woman pilot who was allegedly captured by Iranian forces.
The image being shared is from 2015. It is an image of a Russian jet shot down by Turkey and the viral photo of the woman pilot shows actually a Chilean Navy pilot.
#Politics
PolitiFact
False: Craigslist ad was “recruiting people for LA ‘protests.’”
This Craigslist ad was posted June 5, a day before the Los Angeles protests started. It was created for an online prank show called "Goofcon1." The show’s host, Joey LaFleur, told The Associated Press the ad was related to the protests.
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: Governor Tim Walz was involved with organizing the Minnesota shootings.
Within hours of the shooting of two lawmakers and their spouses in the US state of Minnesota, social media posts began claiming, without evidence, that Governor Tim Walz ordered a "political hit" on his rivals, with some pointing to the suspect's appointment to a state board as proof they were connected. But other board members stated the governor does not personally vet or regularly interact with the group and authorities say they have confidence Vance Luther Boelter acted alone.
#Climate
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: Canadian wildfires were artificially manufactured in order seize the land for other private interest groups.
Tens of thousands in Canada have fled their communities to avoid wildfire risk, disasters some say were premeditated to evacuate land and facilitate the extraction of natural resources. This is unsubstantiated; experts said blazes are too unwieldy to realistically use them to target specific areas and some evacuees have already returned home as of June 12.
#Climate
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: Canadian wildfires were artificially manufactured in order seize the land for other private interest groups.
Tens of thousands in Canada have fled their communities to avoid wildfire risk, disasters some say were premeditated to evacuate land and facilitate the extraction of natural resources. This is unsubstantiated; experts said blazes are too unwieldy to realistically use them to target specific areas and some evacuees have already returned home as of June 12.
#Economy
Snopes
False: People in need have received only 12 cents for every dollar the U.S. government has spent on humanitarian aid.
JD Vance and Marco Rubio wrongly claimed that only 12% of U.S. aid reaches people in need, misrepresenting a USAID report about local funding, not total aid impact. In reality, most aid goes through trusted partners like Gavi and the Global Fund, which direct over 90% of their budgets to delivering services.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Der er masser af gode tilbud fra danske casinoer lige nu.
Danskernes Facebook-feeds bliver i disse uger oversvømmet med casino-annoncer for kendte danske casinoer. Annoncerne ser ud til at være fra kasinoer som Copenhagen Casino på Amager eller Casino Munkebjerg i Vejle. Men spillerne bliver ikke sendt videre til de rigtige kasinoer, men til ulovlige sider, hvor penge højst sandsynligt går tabt, og personlige oplysninger kan blive misbrugt.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Scotland’s national animal is a unicorn.
Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn, a mythical creature symbolizing purity, power, and bravery in Celtic mythology. The choice dates back to the 1500s and may partly reflect Scotland’s historic rivalry with England, whose national animal is the lion. Before the 1603 Union of the Crowns, Scotland’s royal coat of arms featured two unicorns; one was later replaced by a lion to symbolize unity. Unicorns in Scottish heraldry are often shown in chains, thought to represent the strength of kings to tame them. Scotland even celebrates National Unicorn Day on April 9.
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