Kennedy Center Is Not Adorned With Trump Banners
PLUS: Fabricated Zelensky Letter Urges Journalists to Smear Trump; New Canadian Prime Minister Falsely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein
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Today:
Liberals post doctored image of imperial Trump banners plastered around the Kennedy Center
Russian sources fake a Zelensky letter to claim that Ukraine uses USAID funds to pay Western journalists for negative Trump stories
New Canadian prime minister falsely linked to Jeffrey Epstein
And More …
Today’s newsletter was edited by Eric Effron and Sofia Rubinson.
1. Liberals Falsely Claim Kennedy Center Is Adorned with Trump Banners
By Sarah Komar
What happened: Left-leaning social media users spread a doctored image of imperial-style banners of President Donald Trump hung outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, claiming it represents "authoritarianism in real time.” The banners purportedly include the text, “President Trump Welcomes You” along with the slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Context: In February 2025, Trump dismissed the board of the Kennedy Center, the premier cultural institution in the nation’s capital, appointed himself chairman, and replaced board members with allies including Fox News anchors Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo.
A closer look: Social media users are sharing a screenshot of a doctored image of Trump banners, alongside the text: “THE BANNERS ARE UP. THE MASK IS OFF. THE COUP IS UNDERWAY. Trump’s face looms over the Kennedy Center, draped in imperial red banners—bigger than life, bigger than law, bigger than the people. This is not patriotism. This is authoritarianism in real time.”
Anti-Trump X user @JamesTate121 posted the screenshot with the text: “Can’t wait till we tear this down one day. Waste of taxpayer money.” The post garnered 505,000 views and 12,000 likes in three days.
Liberal Threads user @groceryonhome posted the image with the caption: “There was another guy that used to do this kind of s--- but I can’t quite remember his name. Wait. it’s coming to me. It was Hitler. That’s right.”
Actually: The photograph of the imperial-style banners is not real.
The photo was first published on Feb. 14, 2025, as a photo illustration in a Daily Beast (NewsGuard Trust Score: 87.5/100) opinion article titled “Quiet Over Trump’s Kennedy Center Grab Risks ‘Capitulation.’”
There are no Trump banners hanging outside the Kennedy Center.
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2. Pro-Russian Sources Cite Fabricated Letter to Claim Zelensky Diverts USAID Funds to Pay for Negative Press Coverage of Trump
What happened: Pro-Kremlin sources are circulating an image of a letter supposedly sent from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office urging Western journalists to publish negative content about U.S. President Donald Trump — and offering to pay them for the anti-Trump coverage.
A closer look: On March 6, 2025, a Russian-influence site called Clear Story News (Trust Score: 7.5/100) published an article claiming that Zelensky, using funding from the U.S. Agency of International Development, “started paying journalists in Western media who are tasked with creating a negative image of Donald Trump and his team to launch a new RussiaGate.” (“Russiagate” refers to investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which Trump and his supporters have dismissed as a media-driven hoax.)
The article included an image of a supposed letter sent to the leader of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, by Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stating, “I demand to develop a plan to create a negative image of U.S. President Donald Trump. Provide media coverage of the campaign in controlled mass media both within the country and abroad. Provide a calculation for the allocation of budget funds by March 7, 2025.”
One week later, an article on another apparently Russia-backed site, USATimes.news (whose domain was anonymously registered on Jan. 29, 2025) published the false claim and the purported letter. The article circulated on X and Telegram, including by pro-Kremlin influencer Tim Kirby, an American expat who moved to Russia.
Actually: There is no evidence that Zelensky issued any such order. The letter bears signs of fabrication.
Media verification platform InVID found numerous indicators that the photo of the letter was manipulated, including digital alterations on the seal and signature. Also, the formatting and style of the letter is inconsistent with official letters from Zelensky’s office.
Clear Story News is not an authentic news site and is linked to former Florida deputy sheriff turned Kremlin propagandist John Mark Dougan. NewsGuard has found that the site regularly publishes Russian disinformation and has previously been the source of false claims targeting the West, including multiple claims that Zelensky diverts Western aid to fund a lavish lifestyle. (Reality Check members can read NewsGuard’s Nutrition Label for Clear Story News here.)
Click here to find out more about NewsGuard Trust Scores and our process for rating websites. You can download NewsGuard’s browser extension, which displays NewsGuard Trust Score icons next to links on search engines, social media feeds, and other platforms by clicking here.
3. New Canadian Prime Minister Targeted with Jeffrey Epstein Deepfake
By Nicole Dirks and Sarah Komar
What happened: Conservative Canadian and U.S. social media users are spreading a supposed photo of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney lounging in a swimming pool with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, falsely claiming that Carney was implicated in Epstein’s child sex trafficking scandal.
A closer look: The photo first appeared online in January, when Justin Trudeau announced his resignation and launched the race for the next leader of the Liberal Party. It went viral soon after Carney won the vote for leader of the party on March 9.
Conservative Canadian X user @Franktmcveety posted the image on Jan. 28, 2025, superimposed with the text: “What do we have here. Mark Carney and Jeffrey the pedo. He said he had nothing to do with him.” The user added, “Well we’ll just [have] more lies from this corrupt want to be unelected liberal.” The post quickly garnered 105,800 views and 2,400 likes.
On March 10, Instagram page CanadaExpozedArmy, a conservative account, posted the image with the text, “Did you know Mark Carney is the first Canadian Prime Minister with known Jeffrey Epstein connections?” The post received 3,600 likes.
Actually: The image is AI-generated.
The image bears multiple signs of digital manipulation. For example, a woman’s wrist is improbably curved in the background and Carney’s hand appears misshaped.
The closest apparent link between Carney and Epstein is an August 2013 photo of Carney standing next to Epstein’s confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, republished on Jan. 10, 2025, in the Toronto Sun (Trust Score: 92.5/100). Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking girls for Epstein.
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