Fact Check

Did Trump Call Trudeau 'Leader of the Igloo People?'

An article appearing to report that U.S. President Donald Trump called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by a creative epithet was actually satire.

Published Feb. 13, 2017

 (Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock)
Image Via Sergei Bachlakov/Shutterstock
Claim:
President Donald Trump was overheard referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the "leader of the igloo people."

On 13 February 2017, the web site The Burrard Street Journal published a satirical article that reported that President Donald Trump had been overheard referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the "leader of the igloo people":

After blanking on the name “Canada”, U.S. President Donald Trump was overheard referring to Justin Trudeau as the “leader of the igloo people”, as the two met for crunch talks.

The incident occurred during the President’s sit down meeting with the Prime Minister in the Oval Office, while Trump was commenting on how “great” the PM was as well as a “great leader of—”, he said before pausing.

Unaware that his microphone was on, or that everyone else in the room could easily hear him, Mr. Trump leaned over to his advisor Kellyanne Conway and whispered:

“Ah, what do they call themselves again, those people,” Trump said while discreetly pointing upwards. “You know, up there where it’s cold,” he added, snapping his fingers.

Before an alarmed looking Conway could respond, Trump bluttered, “the igloo people, is that it? He’s the leader of the igloo people, right?”

In case the use of the word "bluttered" didn't make it clear, this is not a genuine news item, but a piece of fiction from a satire web site. The Burrard Street Journal, which also refers to itself as the "BS Journal," carries a disclaimer that clearly labels its content as satire:

Hi there, welcome to the Burrard Street Journal’s disclaimer page.

If you clicked here then you are probably doubting the legitimacy of one of our articles. Well friend, those are some good instincts, as the Burrard Street Journal is a source of parody, satire, and humor and is for entertainment purposes only.

[...]

Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to sports personalities and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction.

[...]

Said posts or stories may or may not use real names, always in semi-real and/or mostly, or substantially, fictitious ways. Therefore, all news articles contained within burrardstrettjournal.com are works of fiction and constitute fake news.

While Trump did meet with Trudeau on 13 February 2017, the United States president did not refer to Canada's prime minister as the "leader of the igloo people."

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.