Fact Check

Did Trump Tweet That South Dakota Should Close Its Border with California?

A fake tweet fooled some.

Published July 9, 2020

 (Gage Skidmore)
Image Via Gage Skidmore
Claim:
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that South Dakota should close its border with California.

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In early July 2020, social media users shared a purported screen shot of a tweet that was made to look like it had been written by U.S. President Donald Trump. The tweet called on South Dakota to "keep there [sic] border with California closed!"

Trump did travel to South Dakota to give a speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3, but he did not post the above tweet, which incorrectly states that the states of South Dakota and California share a border.

The purported tweet doesn't appear on Trump's Twitter timeline on July 4, 2020, nor does it appear in a database that collects Trump's tweets or an archive that stores his deleted tweets.

Because we found no evidence that Trump posted the above tweet, we rate this claim "False."

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more

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