Fox News uses old clip of Trump after he wore hat while saluting slain US soldiers | Donald Trump
Fox News used old video of Donald Trump in several reports Saturday and Sunday, concealing from viewers that the commander in chief wore a golf cap throughout a ceremony Saturday in which he saluted six flag-draped transfer boxes carrying the remains of America’s first soldiers who died in its war with Iran.
The president sparked outrage online when he failed to remove his trademark white Trump hat during the homecoming ritual at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday for six Army reserve soldiers killed in Kuwait.
On Saturday afternoon, Fox News initially aired the correct video of Trump at the ceremony, showing him wearing a hat as he saluted alongside first lady Melania Trump, JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance and other officials.
However, less than an hour later, when a Fox News host described the president’s visit to the base as a “dignified handoff from earlier today,” viewers saw old video of Trump at a similar ceremony in December, when he did not wear a hat to salute fallen soldiers in Syria.
That same video from December, of Trump saluting as his hair blew in the wind, was used again on at least two Fox shows Sunday morning.
At 6:18 a.m. ET, one of the hosts of Fox & Friends, the president’s favorite morning show, turned away from a laughter-filled discussion about possible U.S. action to overthrow Cuba’s government to solemnly say: “President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary Usha Vance.” [sic]attending a dignified transfer to honor the final return home of the six American service members killed in Kuwait. As the host spoke, Fox showed viewers a video of Trump at the ceremony in December, with an on-screen label incorrectly indicating that it was recorded on Saturday. The first lady, vice president and second lady were not visible in the old video, since they did not attend the December event.
More than three hours later, the same host acknowledged on air “an error made earlier in our program: during our coverage of yesterday’s worthy transfer, we inadvertently broadcast a video of an older worthy transfer instead of the ceremony that took place yesterday. We deeply regret this error.”
The same video was used at least one more time on another Fox show, Fox News Sunday, in which a host said, “As fighting continues, the president pauses for a moment Saturday afternoon to offer a final salute to the six U.S. service members killed in an attack in Kuwait,” while viewers again saw Trump saluting at the December ceremony and an on-screen graphic incorrectly labeled it as video recorded Saturday.
On Sunday afternoon, after the misleading use of the old video was documented on social media by critics of the network — including an
The president was photographed Sunday wearing the same hat while playing golf in Florida. The white hat, with the gold letters of the United States on the front and the numbers 45 and 47 embroidered on the side, in honor of Trump’s terms as the 45th and 47th president, is sold online at the Trump Store.
Trump and Fox News producers are well aware that behavior considered undignified by presidents during ceremonies for America’s war dead can be politically toxic. In 2021, when Joe Biden was filmed checking his watch at the end of a dignified transfer ceremony for troops killed in Afghanistan, the moment went viral online, aired repeatedly on Fox News — including with an angry commentary from then-Fox host Pete Hegseth — and ended up in a 2024 Trump campaign ad.
A Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian: “Fox News Media programs inadvertently aired footage from a previous dignified transfer while discussing yesterday’s ceremony at Dover Air Force Base. Archival footage was used in error during the video search process. We regret the error and apologize for the incorrect footage.”
The mislabeled video from December, incorrectly described as having been recorded on Saturday, remains on the Fox News website.
