Fact Check: AI Video Goes Viral Claiming that U.S. President Trump Warned Nepal To Pass SPP

Kathmandu. A video of U.S. President Donald Trump has gone viral on social media, where Trump is heard expressing confidence that Nepal's new government will pass the 'State Partnership Program' (SPP) and the 'Millennium Challenge Corporation' (MCC). He is also heard using threatening language, saying that if Nepal cooperates with China and works against the United States, it will have to 'pay a price.'

However, an investigation by the TechPana FactCheck Desk has confirmed that the video is not real. It is a fake video created using artificial intelligence (AI) to imitate the gestures and voice of the U.S. president.

Claim

On March 17 at 9:22 p.m., Facebook user 'Arjun lowa' shared a video of the United States President Donald Trump. The caption of the video reads, “If Nepal makes an anti-U.S. decision under China's instructions, it will have to pay the price.”

In the video, Trump is speaking, “I am confident that the newly formed Nepal government will pass the SPP, including the MCC, and establish maritime relations between the U.S. and Nepal. If Nepal makes anti-U.S. decisions under the instruction of China, it will have to pay the price.”

The video has garnered more than 463,000 views as of the time of preparing this content, along with over 4,300 reactions. It has been shared more than 3,200 times. After watching the video, some users have expressed concerns about whether a crisis will occur in Nepal in the future.

In the comments on that video, a Facebook user named 'Gyanbahadur Thapa' wrote, “The owner who funds to make the bell win has started giving such threats before the government is even formed. Chasing after the bell, it seems that Nepali people might really end up becoming pendulums hanging inside the bell. Let us be cautious, true patriotic Nepalese...!”

'Devendra Kasaju', another user wrote, “If such threats are given now, who can say what might happen tomorrow..? Therefore, I earnestly request the dollar investors to listen carefully.”

Similarly, Facebook user 'Gana Bdr Rai' wrote, "Now those who passed the MCC have to take responsibility 😡😡". Some users have commented that the video is AI-generated. Check out the original video, the recorded video, and the screenshot.

Investigation

On the morning of March 18 at 4:48, a Facebook user named 'Saroj Bista' was also found to have published the same video of Trump with the same assertion.

The caption of the post reads, “If Nepal makes an anti-American decision under China's instruction, it will have to pay the price. 🇳🇵🇳🇵🇳🇵 Nepal must pass the SPP under any circumstances and implement MCC: Donald J. Trump #everyonefollowers #SaveTheNation” 

Watch the video and screenshot.

The logo of  'Yugbudha Television' can be seen in the video. When searching for 'Yugbudha Television' on Google, a YouTube channel of the exact name was found. Trump wears the same attire in a video that was posted on that channel on March 17.

It has been found that the content was created and made public using a video of Trump under the title “America's Shameful Defeat in the Hormuz Strait, Pleading to NATO, China, Japan, and South Korea.” However, Trump does not speak in the video; instead, a news anchor provides information in the background regarding the Hormuz Strait and the U.S. conflict. Nothing regarding Nepal is mentioned in the video.

After that, we tried to find whether Trump had made any other comments about Nepal elsewhere. We conducted an advanced Google search using keywords like 'Trump Nepal comment,' 'New Government Nepal Trump,' 'China U.S. opposing actions Trump,' 'Trump's comment about Nepal,' 'U.S. president Donald Trump SPP,' and 'SPP MCC Nepal Trump.'

We searched the social media and website of the U.S. Embassy in Nepal to see if any comments by Trump about Nepal and the new government were published. However, no material could be found in which U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the government that is being formed in Nepal.

Then, we listened to Trump's viral speech again, where he talked about 'maritime relations'. It doesn't seem relevant for the U.S. president to discuss maritime relations with a landlocked nation like Nepal that is far from the U.S. Similarly, he spoke about the term 'newly formed government', but in Nepal, even though elections have taken place, a new government has not yet been formed.

After finding such irrelevant phrases used in the video, we checked the video using the AI detection tool Hive Moderation with the suspicion that it was AI-generated. The tool concluded that 69.6 percent of the video and 99.8 percent of the audio were AI-generated.

The AI video detection tool 'Unpredictable AI' also concluded that the video was 72 percent AI-generated.

Claim

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Nepal's new government that if it makes anti-U.S. decisions under China's orders, in addition to pressuring to pass the SPP and MCC, it will have to 'pay the price'.

Claimant

Facebook users 'Arjun Lowa', 'Saroj Bista', along with other social media users.

Facts

In the video, Trump can be heard talking about establishing 'maritime relations' with Nepal. Since Nepal is a landlocked country, discussing maritime relations is in itself irrelevant and faulty. No record or news has been found of Trump making such comments about Nepal's new government or the SPP in the U.S. Embassy, the White House, or any reputable international media.

When searching for the actual content of 'Yugbudha Television' shown in the video, it was found that the channel had broadcast news about the Hormuz Strait and the United States, which had no context related to Nepal. In the same footage, it was observed that a fake voice was added to correlate with Nepal using AI. 

When tested with the AI detection tool 'Hive Moderation', the video’s audio was shown to be 99.8 percent, and the video was 69.6 percent AI-generated. Another tool, 'Unpredictable AI', also confirmed it to be 72 percent AI-generated.

Conclusion

This video of Donald Trump going viral on social media is fake. Fact-checking confirms that misinformation was spread by using AI to mimic Trump's voice and gestures.

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