A YouTube short in which United States President Donald Trump is taking a swipe at Indian Air Force pilots over reports of Rafale jets being struck down by Pakistan in the latest conflict is being widely circulated on social media. In the video, Trump quotes French officials as saying, "It's not the jets, it's the pilots." He then adds it may be time for India to take some "flying lessons or at least read the manual". "You don't win wars with price tags, you win with skill and leadership," he says.
His remarks came after the latest flare-up between India and Pakistan. Days after a terror group with alleged links to Pakistan killed 26 civilians in Kashmir's Pahalgam India launched military strikes targeting several terror bases in the neighbouring country. Following the Indian strike on May 7, labelled Operation Sindoor, Pakistan retaliated with heavy shelling. Conflict between the two countries escalated in the next few days before a ceasefire was announced on May 10. Amid the skirmishes, there were some reports that Pakistan had struck down Indian fighter jets and that some wreckage was found in border areas. Manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation, Rafales are key combat aircraft deployed by the Indian Air Force, among other fighter jets.
In the viral video, titled 'Trump Roasts Indian Air Force: Rafales Got Smoked – France Blames the Pilots!' the US President claims that Pakistan took down these aircraft with ease, comparing the scene with the video game Call of Duty. Note that the Indian defence forces did say they suffered some damage to equipment and facilities, but neither confirmed nor denied reports that they lost Rafale jets.
On May 28, veteran journalist Tavleen Singh shared the video on X. She said that if the video was not fake, Trump's stance on Operation Sindoor was worth taking note of. (Archive)
At the time of writing this, the post garnered 250,000 views.
Another X user, BaconEinstein (@PhotonFiasco), also shared the YouTube video with a caption suggesting that Trump's stance was not like an ally's. (Archive)
Facebook user Bhagwan Jotwani shared the video on May 17, alleging that Trump keeps changing his position, calling him "unpredictable". (Archive)
Several other social media users also shared the video, making similar claims.
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Fact Check
We first looked for news reports using keywords from Trump's statements, but this did not yield any credible results.
We then carefully looked at the video and noticed that Trump appears only in the first four seconds. We also found evident discrepancies in the lip sync.
Next, we checked the description of the video. Here, it clearly says that the video is generated using artificial intelligence and for entertainment.
We then looked at other videos on the channel, EZ Money, and found several ones where Trump is making controversial remarks on India and Pakistan.
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The description of the YouTube channel explicitly says that it makes videos of imagined speeches, "where famous voices speak the words the world wants to hear".
To sum up, the video is AI generated and does not depict a real instance. Donald Trump did not make any such statement publicly, at least till this article was published. Also, although renowned columnist Tavleen Singh did add a disclaimer saying, "If this is not a fake..." she still shared it, which may have resulted in many believing it or several others amplifying it.
CMP: 25112. 40Moving AVG (EMA) 20 Hour & 40 Hour: 24922 & 24900Moving AVG (EMA) 20 Day & 40 Day: 24838 & 24598Support ...
Hello, my name is Ankit Sahu. I'm a 25 year old self-employed Pirate from the Chhindwara.