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Viral image
stated on March 18, 2023 in a Facebook post:
Former President Donald Trump tweeted, “The storm is upon us.”
- Facebook Fact-checks
- Viral image
By Ciara O'RourkeMarch 20, 2023
If Your Time is short
- Former President Donald Trump didn’t tweet this.
See the sources for this fact-check
Former President Donald Trump has previously drawn attention for seemingly embracing the QAnon movement, which perpetuates unfounded conspiracy theories such as that a global cabal of celebrities and Democratic politicians are running a child sex trafficking ring.
But we found no evidence that he tweeted a phrase associated with QAnon, despite a supposed screenshot of such a tweet.
"My Fellow Americans, THE STORM IS UPON US!!!" read the text in what looked like a screenshot of a tweet from @realDonaldTrump, the former president’s Twitter handle.
A Facebook post sharing the image was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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Israel War Room posted a helicopter emoji “minutes before the news of the Iranian President’s helicopter crash landing broke.”
But the tweet seen in the post isn’t dated. Trump hasn’t tweeted since before his account was permanently suspended for violating the platform's policies against inciting violence after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. After Elon Musk bought the platform and became Twitter’s CEO, he reinstated Trump’s account.
(Screengrab from Facebook)
We didn’t find the tweet in Trump’s Twitter feed, nor among his deleted tweets that used to be tracked by ProPublica’s Politwoops database. We also found no credible news coverage or other sources reporting on Trump tweeting the phrase, though previous perceived forays into QAnon lore were covered in the media.
In the Facebook post, the purported tweet appears alongside a March 18 authentic Truth Social post from the president urging his supporters to protest. But unlike that post, this tweet isn’t real.
We rate claims that Trump tweeted this False.
Read About Our Process
The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 18, 2023
Donald Trump’s Twitter account, visited March 20, 2023
Twitter, Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump, Jan. 8, 2021
PBS NewsHour, Trump’s embrace of QAnon raising concerns about future political violence, Sept. 23, 2022
PolitiFact, QAnon ideas proliferate in 2022 midterms, raising continued concerns of violence, Nov. 7, 2022
Politwoops search, March 20, 2023
Politwoops, Deleted tweets from Donald J. Trump, March 20, 2023
Twitter search, March 20, 2023
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
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