Post misconstrues video of Trump at Gabbard's swearing-in | Fact check

The claim: Video shows Trump forgetting to swear Tulsi Gabbard in as director of national intelligence

A Feb. 13 Threads post (direct link, archive link) includes a clip from "The Chris Salcedo Show" on Newsmax. It shows President Donald Trump thanking reporters in the White House before walking past his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Salcedo says in the clip, "All right, folks. There you go. We were hoping to see Tulsi Gabbard getting sworn in here, but apparently that's – that's not going to happen."

The Threads post's caption reads, "BREAKING: Trump, visibly confused and rambling, forgot why he was in the Oval Office – to swear in Tulsi Gabbard as DNI. Instead, he tried to leave without doing it, leaving even Newsmax stunned. At almost 79 years old, the decline is undeniable. This is not normal."

The post was liked 2,900 times in 10 days.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. Trump didn't try to leave the Oval Office before swearing in Gabbard as the nation's intelligence director. Bondi had already sworn in Gabbard, and the footage shows Trump leaving the ceremony after taking questions from the press.

Post misconstrues video of Trump at Gabbard's swearing-in ceremony

The Threads post appeared to draw a false conclusion from Salcedo's remarks about not seeing Gabbard being sworn in during the Feb. 12 edition of his program. The X account for Salcedo's show said the claim was wrong and blamed the mix-up on a production mistake.

"The delayed feed was sent to all of the press out of order," Salcedo's show wrote on X. "We didn't know it at the time. We had to wait to get the information from those who sent the feed. My impression was they neglected to send the Gabbard swearing in."

C-SPAN footage of the event at the Oval Office shows that Bondi swore Gabbard in as director of national intelligence while Trump watched. Afterward, Trump took questions from the press for about 26 minutes before thanking reporters on his way out of the room.

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The video in the post only shows Trump's exit from the Oval Office at the end of the ceremony and incorrectly states Gabbard hadn't been sworn in.A Getty Images photo also shows Bondi swearing in Gabbard.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of social media claims involving the Trump administration, including false assertions that Elon Musk announced mandatory drug testing for all federal employees, that Trump signed an executive order setting a two-year limit on public housing and that a 2025 report identified Trump as "greatest threat to world peace."

USA TODAY reached out to the Threads user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Reuters also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• C-SPAN, Feb. 12, President Trump Speaks After Tulsi Gabbard DNI Swearing-In Ceremony
• Newsmax, Feb. 12, The Chris Salcedo Show (2/12/25)
• The Christ Salcedo Show, Feb. 13, X post

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