Video of Donald Trump speaking about RSS and Arunachal Pradesh is a deepfake

The Verdict [Fake]
The video exhibits clear signs of AI manipulation, and the original clip confirms that Trump never made any remarks about RSS or Arunachal Pradesh.

What is the claim?

A video circulating on social media appears to show U.S. President Donald Trump discussing India’s right-wing group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the ethnic tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. In the clip, Trump allegedly accuses the RSS of inciting riots in the northeastern state and fueling conflict among the Tani tribes.

Trump is heard saying it is “crystal clear” that individuals from the Donyi-Polo community have “received money from RSS to brainwash and mislead indigenous Donyi-Polo believers into opposing their Christian Tani brothers using this APFRA Act.” He further appears to claim that certain members of the Donyi-Polo community are selling their identity and faith to the RSS for political gain, leading to “riots between the Tani brothers.” Trump seemingly encourages followers of the Donyi-Polo faith to identify those who have accepted money from RSS to divide the Tani community.

The video (archived here) was widely shared with captions in Tamil, one of which translates to: “Trump on RSS. RSS can be declared a terrorist organization at any time. RSS is a terrorist organization that is taking the field against the violent mob. Trump has made this announcement based on the U.S. intelligence analysis about RSS!? (sic).”

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj Yadav also shared the video, claiming, “Now RSS is being attacked by Trump. They are continuously attacking BJP members and challenging Modiji. The truth is out.” His now-deleted post is archived here. Another deleted post (archived here) read: “Declare RSS the most terrorizing organization.”

Archive links to other such posts are available here and here.

*Screenshot of viral posts circulating on social media. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)*

The Tani people of Arunachal Pradesh are a group of ethnolinguistically related tribes with a shared ancestry, language roots, and cultural traditions. They primarily speak Tibeto-Burman languages and are spread across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Tibet. The Tani tribes include the Adi, Apatani, Galo, Mising, Nyishi, and Tagin ethnic groups.

The Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA) prohibits religious conversions through force, inducement, or fraudulent means. On March 6, 2025, thousands of Christians staged a peaceful demonstration demanding the repeal of the act. Two days later, Chief Minister Pema Khandu urged young people to recognize the law’s significance, asserting that it protects religious freedom.

However, the viral video of Trump making statements about RSS and Arunachal Pradesh is a deepfake.

What are the facts?

There are no credible reports of Trump making any such remarks about RSS or Arunachal Pradesh.

A reverse image search revealed that the background footage in the viral clip is a composite of multiple unrelated videos. The first clip (archived here), shows RSS chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat visiting the Donyi Polo Nyedar Namlo Prayer Center in Arunachal Pradesh on March 3, 2025. Other portions of the video feature recent clips of political leaders and individuals from Arunachal Pradesh attending the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The footage of Trump is sourced from an NBC News exclusive interview aired on May 12, 2017. In the original video (archived here), Trump was speaking to news anchor Lester Holt about his decision to fire then-FBI Director James Comey, independent of recommendations from the attorney general and deputy attorney general. At no point in the interview did he mention RSS, Arunachal Pradesh, or the Tani tribes.

What did tools reveal about the clip?

Several indicators suggest that the viral clip is AI-generated:

– The voice closely resembles Trump’s but lacks natural variations in pitch and tone, suggesting AI voice cloning.

– While some lip movements align with the audio, inconsistencies appear throughout the clip.

– Abrupt jump cuts in Trump’s footage do not correspond with natural pauses in speech, further indicating manipulation.

To verify, the Misinformation Combat Alliance’s Deepfakes Analysis Unit, of which Logically Facts is a member, analyzed the video using multiple deepfake detection tools, including Hive AI, Hiya, and Deepfake-o-Meter.

– Hive AI’s audio detector flagged a 10-second portion of the audio as “AI-generated.”

– Hiya AI Voice Detection found strong evidence of AI manipulation, noting that the “voice seems generated or modified by AI” and had only a 21 percent match with live human markers.

– Deepfake-o-Meter’s classifiers, except for one, confirmed with high confidence that the voice was AI-generated.

*The image shows the results of analyses by Hiya and Deepfake-o-meter. (Source: Deepfake-o-meter/Modified by Logically Facts)*

Additionally, Hive AI’s deepfake detector identified that Trump’s video footage in the inset was entirely AI-manipulated.

*The image shows the AI detection results by Hive AI. (Source: Hive AI/Modified by Logically Facts)*

The verdict

The viral video claiming Trump accused RSS of paying the Donyi-Polo community to turn against their Christian Tani brothers is a deepfake. The original footage, taken from a 2017 interview, contains no mention of RSS or Arunachal Pradesh. AI analysis confirms that both the video and audio were artificially manipulated.

This article is written by Ishita Goel and republished from Logically Facts. Read the original article here.