Claim: A video circulating online shows US President Donald Trump speaking in Urdu, pledging to act against the Pakistan Democratic Movement.
Fact: The video is doctored. Deepware and audio analyses revealed manipulated audio frequencies and deepfake characteristics.
Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 US Presidential election, X user @Tabii_DxB shared a clip (archive) of Trump speaking in Urdu, with the caption: “ڈونلڈ ٹرمپ کا پیغام پھیلا دیں سب جگہ”
[Translated from Urdu: Spread Donald Trump’s message everywhere]
In the video, Donald Trump says, “Imran Khan meri jaan, apun election jeet gaya hai. Ab dekhna apun PDM walon ke saath karta kia hai. Tera yaar, mera yaar, qaidi number 804.
[Translated from Roman Urdu: Imran Khan, my dear, I have won the election. Now watch what I do with the PDM folks. Your friend, my friend, prisoner number 804.]
Trump and Khan
Donald J Trump, the 45th and now 47th President of the United States, is a Wharton School graduate who initially gained fame in real estate, sports, and entertainment, making the Trump name synonymous with prestigious New York properties. Following a high-profile business career, he entered politics in 2015 and won the 2016 presidential election on his first run for office. After his initial term, he returned to the political arena, winning the 2024 presidential election to become the 47th president.
In July 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, in a bid to improve strained relations, according to the BBC. Trump discussed the Afghan conflict, adding that Pakistan was helping the US withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He had hoped that Khan would pressure the Taliban into negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan government at the time.
During the meeting, Trump also offered to mediate the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, saying he would be willing to help if needed, the BBC reported. The leaders also addressed counter-terrorism, trade, and investment, with Khan emphasising Pakistan’s economic challenges and the need for mutually beneficial ties with the US.
In the lead-up to the 2024 US elections, the Pakistani-American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC USA) endorsed Republican presidential candidate Trump. In a post on X published in October, they wrote that the “legislative coup” against former Prime Minister Imran Khan was carried out under the Biden administration.
Imran Khan’s supporters are hopeful that Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency could lead to diplomatic efforts for Khan’s release from prison, as reported by The Media Line. Some of his allies believe that Trump’s administration might exert pressure on Pakistan’s government to secure Khan’s freedom.
However, experts have cautioned that while US influence could play a role, the decision ultimately rests within Pakistan’s political and judicial systems. The complex dynamics of US-Pakistan relations, especially concerning regional security and geopolitical interests, suggest that any intervention would be nuanced, stated the Global Voice.
As of now, Donald Trump has not issued any official statements regarding plans to advocate for Khan’s release. The situation remains speculative with outcomes dependent on both international and diplomatic efforts and Pakistan’s internal political landscape.
Fact or Fiction?
From the outset, it was clear that it was highly unlikely for Donald Trump to speak in Urdu slang. Many users did not take the video at face value, as evident from the comments. We reverse-searched keyframes of the viral video and found various speeches of Donald Trump from his first presidential term in which he wore the same outfit as in the viral video. However, the exact image or footage corresponding to the claim was not found.
We conducted a keyword-search to check if Trump had made any statements about Imran Khan or the PDM since his election but found no news reports.
Furthermore, a 2020 article by Brut noted that Trump primarily speaks English, despite some of his family members being multilingual. Thus, it is unlikely that he recorded the audio or the video, which led us to conduct a visual and audio analysis to determine whether the video was created using AI tools or simply dubbed.
We examined the video using Deepware Scanner, which scans and detects suspicious content to identify potential synthetic manipulation. A deepfake is a form of generative AI that alters real videos or audio to make it look like someone is saying or doing something they didn’t. Rather than serving a creative or practical purpose, they often focus on mimicking real-life appearances or actions, or changing existing media to mimic reality, which raises ethical concerns.
The Deepware Scanner results suggest elements of AI manipulation in the video. The “Deepware” and “Seferbekov” models flagged moderate to high levels of suspicion at 52% and 74%, while the Ensemble analysis, which combines multiple tools, rated the video 66% suspicious. These findings indicate potential AI manipulation, especially in facial or motion dynamics.
Shaur Azher, an audio engineer at Soch Videos, conducted an in-depth analysis of the video and concluded it was fabricated. He explained that the speech’s audio frequencies provided the strongest evidence of manipulation. Using RX 11, he observed consistent frequencies throughout the clip, a hallmark of artificial production, as natural speech shows variability due to human vocal dynamics.
“The audio’s articulation and intonation also lacked natural nuances, suggesting it was generated using advanced voice synthesis or dubbing,” he explained. A comparison between the viral video’s spectrogram and that of authentic human audio revealed significant discrepancies.
“The video highlights the rising use of deepfake technology and audio manipulation to spread misinformation,” Azher said, emphasising the importance of verifying content before sharing it, particularly in politically sensitive contexts.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, and here on X. Archived here, here, and here.
On Facebook, it was shared here.
It was also shared here, here, and here on Instagram.
On TikTok, it was shared here.
Conclusion: The claim that a video shows Donald Trump pledging action against the PDM is false. An analysis of the video, using Deepware Scanner and audio tools, revealed deepfake characteristics and artificially produced audio frequencies, confirming that it is fabricated.
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Background image in cover photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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