Video showing Trump stumbling out of hospital is AI

As social media users speculate about the health of President Donald Trump, recent Facebook posts claim to provide some insight.

“BREAKING: There are some reports Trump has been taken to Walter Reed Hospital,” read the headline on a video posted multiple times last month. In the clip, Trump is seen being helped by two men as he stumbles out of a building. On the building is a sign which reads “Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.”

But this video isn’t real, according to PolitiFact. It was created using artificial intelligence, or AI.

A White House spokesperson told PolitiFact that the video is fake and the president hasn’t visited the hospital. During the time the video was posted, from April 19 to 21, Trump had a policy meeting, signed executive orders, posted on his Truth Social account and gave a phone interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The sign on the building contains sections that are gibberish and a logo that doesn’t match any of the logos the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has used. A spokesperson from the hospital’s communications office told PolitiFact that the sign and logo is inconsistent with the style the medical center uses.

The video also contains a watermark identifying it as having been created with AI.

British police didn’t arrest mannequin

A video posted to social medial earlier this month shows British police officers loading a mannequin into a police van.

“30 POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTED A MANNEQUIN IN THE UK BECAUSE THE MANNEQUIN WAS HURTING THE FEELINGS OF MUSLIMS,” read the headline on the post. A video shows an officer putting the mannequin, and its unattached arm, into the vehicle.

People in the clip are heard booing the police action as a narrator says, “This is the clown world Britain has become. Plastic dolls are now a threat to Islam.”

This May 2 X post, which has been viewed more than 2.8 million times, is misleading, according to Reuters. The video is real but the police were actually arresting the person with the mannequin.

Other videos of the incident show police confronting a woman who is handcuffed to the mannequin. There was also a sign attached to the mannequin which read, “I OPPOSE GENOCIDE I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.”

London’s Metropolitan Police told Reuters the mannequin was a prop belonging to the protester and that officers “clearly did not arrest a mannequin.”

“Support for a proscribed group is a serious offense under the Terrorism Act and, if convicted, individuals face a maximum of ⁠six months’ imprisonment and a number of other consequences,” the Metropolitan Police said.

Trump didn’t say to drive downhill

The price of gas at the pump has steadily increased as the war with Iran continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

But a recent post appears to show President Donald Trump offering tips to save gas.

“Gas prices are a little high right now, maybe because we're WINNING too much, but that's okay because REAL Americans know how to adapt,” read a screenshot of a May 1 X post which appears to come from the president. The post also includes some “very smart tips,” such as, “Only drive downhill whenever possible. I’ve been saying this for years, gravity is FREE energy.”

Trump has continually posted about gas prices and when they will be coming down, but this post didn’t come from him, according to USA Today. The post is fake.

Although this post is made to look like a post from Trump, it can’t be found on his X account or his Truth Social account.

On May 5, the national average price for a gallon of gas was $4.48, with prices as high as $6.13 in California.

“I see it going down very substantially when this is over, I think very rapidly too, at levels that you've never seen because there's a lot of energy out there,” Trump said during a May 4 news conference.

Seth Rogen did not die

A post last month appeared to include some sad news.

“Seth Rogen tragically found dead at 44” read the top of an April 29 X post which included a black-and-white photo of the Canadian actor.

But that post is fake, according to Lead Stories. Rogen is alive. There are no actual news reports claiming he is dead.

The claim first appeared on Reddit after Rogen’s fictional, on-screen death in an episode of “The Boys.” Following that show, the rumor made its way to social media posts.

An X account that reported the fake news is labeled as a “parody account.”

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.