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 courtesy of Gage Skidmore
Article 8 of 8 in Collection
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."

Article 8 of 8 in Collection

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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