Tense Trump-Zelenskyy exchange inspires AI-generated fight scenes in Oval Office
The ubiquitous access to the original footage of the meeting all prove that the footage is AI-generated
CLAIM
Multiple videos shared on social media show U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appearing to get into a physical altercation in the Oval Office.
BACKGROUND
All eyes were on Washington when a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump along with his vice president, JD Vance, turned into a near-shouting match on February 28. Zelenskyy had travelled to the U.S. to sign a minerals deal but left the White House abruptly without it.
During the confrontation in front of press in the Oval Office, Trump told Zelenskyy to make a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. “You either make a deal or we are out,” Trump said. He also told Zelenskyy he was “gambling with World War III”. Zelenskyy responded that he did not want to agree to a ceasefire deal without security guarantees from the U.S.
The tense standoff was captured in front of rolling news cameras with the footage broadcast across U.S. and international news networks. At one point, a visibly agitated Trump could be seen laying his hand on Zelenskyy’s upper arm.
A number of videos were widely shared on social media the following days, appearing to show Trump and Zelenskyy getting into a physical fight in the Oval Office. The videos, which showed different scenes of Zelenskyy hitting Trump, were shared tens of thousands of times with thousands of comments left on them.
Some of these clips were overlaid with banners and logos of major American news outlets. Below is a screenshot of an X post containing the same footage as in the first X post above overlayed with a CNN logo and banner.
Yet another video showing the scene from a slightly different angle, appears to show Vance also getting involved in a tussle with Trump and Zelenskyy. This video, which was one of the first to appear, was shared 9,000 times.
METHOD
News videos from Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
There are numerous clues in the videos and commentary around them to indicate that the footage does not show a real scene. This is confirmed not least of all by the widely available footage of the actual appearance in the Oval Office in front of camera crews and journalists filming on their phones. For instance, a clip was shared by a Deutsche Welle correspondent in Washington who was inside the room.
The Associated Press published the YouTube video below and shows the full exchange.
Analysis of manipulated videos
A closer look at the manipulated footage also provided multiple clues that the scenes they were depicting were not real.
A screengrab from the video of a tussle between Zelenskyy, Trump and Vance shows one of the hallmarks of AI-generated footage, which frequently shows faces becoming distorted. Trump’s face is pulled in different directions as the footage plays out and the overall quality of the video is poor. It is also signposted as ‘satire’ in the top right corner.
However, this was one of the less frequently shared deepfake videos. Another two videos featured above, posted by X accounts that associated themselves with the Anonymous hacker group, were shared close to 100,000 times.
When looked at frame by frame, they also show the facial distortions characteristic of AI-generated videos, and one of them shows Trump’s tie moving around strangely as he is knocked back.
The videos also look bizarrely exaggerated with Zelenskyy staring off into the distance after appearing to make Trump cry.
The CNN banner laid over one of the videos also contains a clue that it is not genuine as it features the name Zelenskyy twice but is written differently both times- once with one y and once with two. CNN’s house style is with one y.
Thousands of comments left under the videos show people broadly understood the footage was AI-generated, while the circulation of multiple different videos showing different ways in which the fight is meant to have taken place further confirms this.
Some of the most popular manipulated videos also began being shared on March 1 — a day after the meeting — further indicating that there was a lag between the actual event and a social media trend emerging that imagined the meeting descending into physical fighting.
While these videos are widely understood not to show a real scene, some of them are of high quality with no immediate indication that they are AI-generated. It is conceivable that at some point in the future they could be circulated again and misinform people who did not see or were aware of the original footage.
RATING
A visual analysis of the clip, the inclusion of a disclaimer that it was satirical, and the ubiquitous access to the original footage of the meeting all prove that the footage is AI-generated.
SOURCES
Associated Press (2025). WATCH: Full exchange between Trump, JD Vance and Zelenskyy during Oval Office meeting. [online] YouTube. Available at: [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].
Bohannon, M. (2025). Trump, Zelenskyy, Vance Face Off In Oval Office Shouting Match—Here’s Everything They Said. Forbes. [online] 28 Feb. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/02/28/trump-zelenskyy-vance-face-off-in-oval-office-shouting-match-heres-everything-they-said/.
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). @YourAnonCentral Available at: X post [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). @YourAnonNews Available at: X post [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Who made this edit? [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Trump meets with Zelensky. — The Alternate Ending. [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Heated exchange in the Oval Office between Presidents Trump, Zelenskyy and VP Vance. [Accessed 3 Mar. 2025].