Video of Liberian President criticizing Trump generated by artificial intelligence

A video clip of Liberian President Joseph Boakai has been circulating on social media, purporting to show him discussing US President Donald Trump’s behavior during his meeting with leaders of five African countries. The video includes sharp criticism of Trump’s behavior, including insulting them by mocking their English proficiency, and accusing him of requesting a recommendation from the delegation for the Nobel Peace Prize. “Trump is literally the worst president I have ever seen in my life,” Boakai said in the video. “He is ignorant and extremely rude. The leaders of five of our countries traveled thousands of miles to come here to discuss trade with him, yet he raised his head and insulted me with gestures and asked me where I learned English, as if I were an ignorant peasant who knew nothing. If he had paid a little attention, he would have known that English is our mother tongue. We were all embarrassed on his behalf. What I cannot accept at all is that he had the audacity to ask us to write him a letter of recommendation for the Nobel Prize. This is ridiculous. The president of Israel wrote it just to please him. Does he really think he is an ambassador for peace? He has not visited Africa a single day since he took office. We, for example, as poor countries, sell weapons under the pretext of maintaining balance, but they still target our oil and minerals. I truly regret dealing with someone like that.”

Kashif verified the video’s authenticity and found it to be fake and generated using artificial intelligence. The video was posted on TikTok by “Trend News” account, whose username is  haojiafvm7v, on 10 July 2025, and indicated that it was generated using artificial intelligence. 

The real video was posted by BBC News Africa on Facebook on 28 March 2024, with the following description: “Corruption is a poison; everything it touches is destroyed. In an interview with the Africa Daily podcast, Liberian President Joseph Boakai spoke with Allan Kasuga about fighting corruption, fixing the country’s roads “in the next 100 days,” and more.” 

He said in the video : “Look at Liberia today. Where are the clinics? Where are the schools? Where are the streets? Where are the roads? It’s not because we couldn’t build them, but because the money was transferred to individuals. And who are these individuals? They go abroad, they buy houses, but the country they made the money from, they’re afraid to use it in.

So they leave. They forget that there are hundreds of children here who don’t go to school. There is no medical care. I have a close friend who is sick in Foya. He could have been taken by helicopter, but where are they? Corruption is poison. Everything it touches, it corrupts. It deprives people of good roads. It deprives others of proper medical facilities.

You always wish you could go somewhere else when you can have everything here.

“This is what corruption does. It destroys a country. It makes people disrespectful because others think we’re a country that lives on aid, when we shouldn’t be.” 

On 9 July 2025, US President Donald Trump hosted a mini-summit at the White House with the leaders of five African countries: Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, Gabon, and Guinea-Bissau. The summit aimed to discuss ways to strengthen trade relations between the United States and West Africa. Trump promised the leaders of these countries a shift from providing aid to promoting trade and investment in natural resources such as oil and minerals. 

International media outlets, including CNN, reported on Trump’s conversational style with leaders, including his interruption of the Mauritanian president and his demand that the Guinea-Bissau president identify himself and his country. He also expressed his admiration for the Liberian president’s English and asked him where he learned it, even though English is the official language in Liberia. 

During the press conference, an African journalist asked the African heads of state if they intended to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, and Trump laughed and said she was a great journalist.