Old Video Shared as Indian Journo Being Mocked at Recent Modi-Trump Presser

The video dates back February 2020 and is not recent as claimed.

A five-year-old video has gone viral with the misleading claim that it shows an American reporter mocking an Indian journalist during the recent Modi-Trump joint press conference.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a man, identified as an Indian journalist, asking a question during a press conference is being shared on social media.

• In the video, a woman dressed in green appears to laugh at the man, making fun of him as he asks his question.

The claim: The video is being shared as one from a recent joint press conference held by US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 14 February 2025.

• Those sharing it have claimed that it shows American journalists, "laughing at the stupidity of India’s brainless spineless journalists during the joint Trump-Modi press conference!"

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the claim is misleading.

• We were able to trace the video back to 2020. It was taken during a press conference in New Delhi when Trump visited India during his first term.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens, which led us to several news reports and social media posts from 2020.

• One such report by Lokmat Times, which shared information by news agency IANS, was published on 28 February 2020.

The report is nearly five years old.

(Source: Lokmat Times/Altered by The Quint)

• It said that during a press conference by Trump at the White House, a New York Post reporter appeared to "make faces at" an Indian journalist while he asked a question.

• A keyword search using 'NY Post journalist mocks Indian reporter' led us to another report by India Today carrying a screenshot of the viral video, published in February 2020.

This report was published in 2020.

(Source: India Today/Altered by The Quint)

• In the video, the Indian report can be heard saying, "...scientific and medical team behind you and with you, and I'm sure that they will keep America safe."

• We found the same question in an archive of Trump's remarks on the White House's website, titled 'Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Conference'.

The same question was seen in a transcript of the briefing.

(Source: White House Archives/Altered by The Quint)

Conclusion: An old video of a reporter making fun of an Indian journalist is being shared as a recent clip from the Trump-Modi press conference.

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