Record of the Press · 2012–Present
Released to the public · 31 OCT 2026File TBL-0024
DEBUNKED

Trump 'dumps' fish food into a koi pond in Japan

06 NOV 2017 · CNN, The Guardian, Bloomberg, CBS News
Screenshot of the page as published at cnn.com (via Wayback Machine)
EXHIBIT A — Page capture from cnn.com (via Wayback Machine). Click to open the source.

■ The claim

Headlines, tweets and tightly cropped clips presented President Trump as impatiently dumping an entire box of fish food into a koi pond at Akasaka Palace while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looked on.

■ What actually happened

The full pool video showed Abe emptying his own box into the pond first, with Trump following his host's lead. Some write-ups, including CNN's own article text, mentioned Abe's action, but the widely shared headlines, tweets and cropped clips focused on Trump alone and left that context out. Fact-checkers rated the viral framing misleading.

■ The proof

The unedited White House pool footage, as described by NPR and Snopes, shows Abe tipping out his box roughly 33 seconds in, before Trump does. No formal retractions are documented; the failure was framing that left out context.

■ Original reporting

■ Corrections, findings & records

■ Wayback Machine copies

Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.

Who it helped: DemocratsMade Trump look boorish abroad.

■ Grade

DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →