Trump apologised to Tinubu over terrorism claims? Real fact surfaces
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has more than five years of experience in fact-checking, investigative journalism, and public-interest reporting, with a strong track record of producing impactful, evidence-based stories that promote transparency and accountability.
FCT, Abuja - A viral post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that United States President Donald Trump had apologised to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for accusations made about Nigeria's handling of terrorism, but a fact-check has found the claim to be false.
The post, shared on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, by an account using the handle @OluremiTinubu, included a screenshot of what appeared to be a news broadcast.
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The caption read:
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"BREAKING: Donald Trump apologised to President Tinubu for the unfounded accusations made over the past year. According to Trump, he 'was wrong about the Nigerian authorities' culpability regarding the current terrorism situation in the country…"
By Saturday, October 10, 2026, the post had racked up over 108,000 views, 1,000 likes, 465 comments, 343 reposts, and 175 bookmarks.
Verification of Trump-Tinubu claim
This digital media platform ran a reverse image search on the screenshot and found it traced back to a video shared on X on August 31, 2026, by World Source News. That video showed Trump speaking about the Strait of Hormuz, with no mention of Nigeria or President Tinubu.
Further searches uncovered a longer version of the same footage shared by Northeast Live, an Indian satellite news channel, on September 1, 2026. That post quoted Trump saying: "Iran is a failed nation… But that doesn't mean we will not smack them. We have the Strait of Hormuz in extremely good shape… Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel would have been wiped out."
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Reuters, Al Jazeera, Fox News, AP News, and Iran International all covered the same story in August 2026, reporting that Trump made the remarks after Iran launched missiles at two US air bases in Jordan in response to US strikes on Iran's Larak Island.
On Trump's official Truth Social account, a post from August 30, 2026, showed him describing Iran as a "failed nation," writing:
"Iran is officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD! They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police, Inflation is at 300%..."
When Legit.ng ran the claimant's image through AI detection tools, including AI Vigilai and a fake image detector, both flagged a high percentage of AI-generated manipulation and computer modification.
No Nigerian or international news outlet published any report of Trump apologising to Tinubu .
Verdict on viral Tinubu-Trump claim
Legit.ng also confirmed that the X account @OluremiTinubu that shared the post is not linked to Nigerian First Lady Senator Remi Tinubu. Her verified official account on X is @SenRemiTinubu.
The investigation concludes that the claim is false. The image was altered to misrepresent a statement Trump made about Iran, and no credible evidence exists that he apologised to President Tinubu on any matter.
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Source: Legit.ng
Ridwan Adeola Yusuf (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content writer with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.
