Video of 'Trump Force One' buzzing airport from video game | Fact check
The claim: Video shows 'Trump Force One' buzzing DC-area airport after presidential debate
A June 30 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows purported footage of former President Donald Trump's plane flying over an airport after his debate with President Joe Biden.
"Trump Force One conducted an authorized low altitude, high speed pass over an airport near D.C. after winning the debate," reads the post's caption.
The post was liked more than 1,000 times in two days.
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Our rating: False
The video is from a flight simulation video game. It doesn't show actual footage of Trump's plane. Audio in the video also has been circulating online since at least 2023.
Video created with flight simulation video game
The editorial boards of several major newspapers, including The New York Times and the Chicago-Tribune, have called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race following his roundly criticized debate with Trump in Atlanta.
But the post doesn't show actual footage of Trump's plane doing a high-speed, low-altitude victory lap over a Washington, D.C., airport, as the Threads post claims. The footage is from a video game.
The video was originally posted by a different user on Instagram who said it was created using "Microsoft Flight Simulator," a video game released in 2020. The Instagram user regularly posts videos created with flight simulation video games, including other Trump plane videos. The Threads post includes no disclaimer the video is a digital creation.
The footage in the Threads post also has signs it is from a video game, including some blurriness and a moment at the start of the video that shows pieces of a building seemingly floating on air.
Fact check: No, there was no delay on Biden/Trump debate broadcast, CNN says
And while the plane in the video has a paint job similar to that of Trump's plane, it is a different model aircraft. Trump's actual Boeing 757 has more windows on its port side, which is the left side of the plane shown in the video.
The digital airplane in the video resembles a user-created add-on of a Trump-branded Boeing 737 that gamers can download.
The video also includes audio of a person saying, "Oh, he's gonna be fast, oh boy." This audio has been circulating online since at least 2023.
There were also no credible reports about Trump's real plane being authorized to do a high-speed, low-altitude pass over an airport near Washington, D.C. after the debate.
The Threads user who shared the video did not immediately return a request for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
@iceman_fox1, June 29, Instagram post
Reuters, May 14, Trump's Boeing 757 clipped corporate jet at West Palm Beach airport – source
@airforce_cadet10, Oct. 13, 2023, TikTok video
Fightsim.to, Jan. 31, 2024, Trump Force One – 737-700BBJ
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video of Trump plane is from flight simulation game | Fact check
