Fact Check: Does Video Show Trump Visiting Maui After August 2023 Fires?
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Claim:
Online video showed U.S. President Donald Trump visiting Maui in the aftermath of the August 2023 wildfires.
Rating:
Context:
The footage actually showed Trump visiting Beauregard, Alabama in 2019 after a tornado killed nearly two dozen people in the area.
In August 2023, social media users shared a video clip purporting to show that former U.S. President Donald Trump had visited Maui, an island in Hawaii, in the aftermath of massive wildfires that left a swath of destruction and more than 100 people dead as of this writing.
"The People's President, Donald J. Trump and our Beautiful First Lady Melania Trump, checking up on the people of Maui after the #MauiFires," an X (formerly known as Twitter) post claimed on Aug. 16, 2023. According to the post, the video showed Trump and his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, walking through wreckage with a FEMA truck in the background, as well as Trump speaking to a group of people saying he had met some of the survivors and family members.
TRUMP Visits Maui Hawaii, A Real President Truly cares.🇺🇲🗽💯 pic.twitter.com/JA6Of1H6mv
— STEVE #DREAM BIG...just enjoy the moment (@stevehalilovic) August 16, 2023
In addition, we found the same claim being trumpeted on other social media platforms, like YouTube.
This footage didn't show Trump visiting Maui. Instead, this was footage from when he visited Beauregard, Alabama, in 2019, after a tornado killed nearly two dozen people in the area.
In the video clip, Trump is heard saying:
These are incredible people. We just met some of the survivors and family members, and what they've been through is incredible. One woman lost 10 people in her family, an incredible woman. I said, 'How did it go?' She said, 'I lost 10, 10 people.'
This and other remarks Trump made turned up in a transcript we found on the website of the office of the governor of Alabama, who was Kay Ivey at the time of this writing. It was posted on March 11, 2019, and titled, "Remarks by President Trump and Governor Ivey During Lee County Tour." The Montgomery Advertiser reported that state EMA Director Brian Hastings was among the group that greeted Trump and the former first lady when they traveled to the area.
We also found a video from The Associated Press' film and video archive YouTube channel that included the same footage that would later be miscaptioned as showing Trump visiting Maui. The original footage was titled, "Trump visits tornado-ravaged town in Alabama."
On Aug. 14, 2023, Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account in which he gave his "sympathy and warmest regards" to those hurt by the wildfires, but as of this writing he had not visited the site himself.
Sources:
Fiscus, Kirsten and Andrew J. Yawn. "'Thank You, Sir.' Beauregard Expresses Gratitude during President Trump's Visit." Montgomery Advertiser, https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/03/08/president-visits-alabama-wake-deadly-tornado/3102289002/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2023.
"Governor." Office of the Governor of Alabama, https://governor.alabama.gov/governor/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2023.
NBC News. "More than 100 Dead as Search for Hundreds Continues in Lahaina: Recap." NBC News, 16 Aug. 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/maui-fires-live-updates-lahaina-search-missing-death-toll-rcna99933.
"Remarks by President Trump and Governor Ivey During Lee County Tour." Office of the Governor of Alabama, 11 Mar. 2019, https://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2019/03/remarks-by-president-trump-and-governor-ivey-during-lee-county-tour/.
"Trump Visits Tornado-Ravaged Town in Alabama." YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uixnZuBrVY. Accessed 17 Aug. 2023.
"Truth Social." Truth Social, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110890379221576391. Accessed 17 Aug. 2023.
