Trump speech highlighted prior experience as commander-in-chief | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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Donald Trump in New Hampshire in November
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The claim: Trump said he is still commander-in-chief during a campaign speech

A Nov. 13 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes a TikTok video of former president Donald Trump giving a campaign speech.

“Trump just told everyone he IS COMMANDER In Chief… ‘I alone in this primary have borne the burden of having troops in harm’s way being CIC of the armed forces,’” reads text included in the video.

The post was liked more than 100 times in nine days.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

Trump never claimed to still be commander-in-chief in the video. The full speech makes clear he was speaking about his prior experience as commander-in-chief of the U.S. military.

Speech taken out of context

The post shows a clip from Trump's Nov. 11 campaign stop in Claremont, New Hampshire. In his speech there, Trump outlined broad policy ideas and made headlines by comparing his political opponents to vermin.

But nowhere in nearly two hours of remarks recorded by C-SPAN does the former president claim to still be president or commander-in-chief.

The excerpt included in the post clearly shows Trump was referring to his prior experience as commander-in-chief. In it, Trump speaks about the possibility of World War III and claims he alone is positioned to prevent it.

“You look at what’s going on right now in the Middle East and Ukraine, and you add it up, and we have somebody that has no clue what the hell is going on,” he says in the clip. “You’re going to end up in World War III because of this. No reason for it. Millions of people will die. I know the players. I know the job. I alone in this primary have borne the burden of having troops in harm’s way as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.”

Fact check: Letitia James remarks on Donald Trump misrepresented as critique of Joe Biden

Claims that Trump is still president and secretly leading the government are not new. USA TODAY previously debunked claims that President Joe Biden was arrested and Trump reinstated and that Trump and the military are running the country.

USA TODAY could not reach the user who shared the post for comment.

Reuters and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump speech mentioned past experience as president | Fact check