Trump’s ‘make peace or die’ message to Putin is deepfake. Yet it fooled Russians

On January 27th, Andrey Isayev, a member of Russia’s State Duma, made shocking allegations against U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of aggressively pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to initiate peace talks with Ukraine.

During an appearance on the popular show 60 Minutes on Rossia-1, the nation’s leading state-owned TV channel, Isayev claimed that Trump invoked the fate of Libya’s former dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, who was brutally killed by a mob following a rebellion in 2011.

Isayev suggested that instead of issuing threats, Trump should consider the tragic end of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who faced multiple assassination attempts during his tenure.

“Trump’s confrontational approach towards our president was quite aggressive, urging him to start negotiations while referencing Gadhafi’s demise,” Isayev remarked.

However, these allegations have been debunked.

The purported statement attributed to President Trump by Isayev actually originated from a fabricated video circulated by Ukrainian content creators on the Telegram messaging platform.

On January 23rd, the Ukrainian Telegram channel BAZA, ce Hʼyuston (Base, this is Houston) released a video featuring Trump addressing Putin. The video was cleverly edited to include logos and graphics from Rossia-1, suggesting it was aired with Russian dubbing.

In the video, a manipulated version of Trump is shown saying:

“I acknowledge Putin’s strength as a leader, but his tactics often lead to disastrous outcomes. History is filled with stories like Saddam, Ceausescu, and Gadhafi… all meeting terrible fates. Let’s avoid such a scenario, Vladimir.”

The video swiftly gained traction by January 24th, spreading across various social media platforms and even making its way into news outlets.

Subsequently, the social media team behind BAZA, ce Hʼyuston Telegram channel admitted in a comment that the video was a deepfake produced using artificial intelligence.

The objective of this deceptive campaign was to sow disillusionment among active Russian citizens, a goal the channel proudly claimed to have achieved.

Their channel’s profile further supports these activities, with a link directing users to a website boasting, “We create sophisticated deepfakes.”

Later reports from Ukrainian news sources New Voice and Antikor, along with the Georgian fact-checking outlet Myth Detector, confirmed that the Trump video addressing Putin was indeed a deepfake.

On January 22nd, President Trump publicly urged Russia to halt its aggressive actions in Ukraine, cautioning of severe economic repercussions through tariffs, taxes, and sanctions if a peaceful resolution is not reached promptly. In a post on Truth Social, he appealed to Putin to “end this now” and cease the conflict, warning that the situation would only deteriorate further.

While emphasizing his admiration for the Russian people and his historically positive relationship with Putin, Trump made it clear that he would impose economic penalties on Russian exports to the U.S. and its allies if the conflict persisted.

He asserted that such a conflict would not have erupted under his administration and stressed the urgency of diplomatic negotiations. Trump framed his warnings as a gesture of goodwill towards Russia, urging Putin to opt for the “path of least resistance” by engaging in talks to prevent further loss of life.

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