Fact Check: Did Trump hold a banner written in Khmer?

A photo showing Donald Trump holding a banner which says “Khmer Kill Khmer” is like supporting “Hun Sen” was posted by a Cambodian user on Facebook. This post was reacted with mixed comments and shared by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, after running a Google Reverse Image and Yandex, it proves that the claim above was false.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On June 13, 2020, one of the Facebook users posted a photo with Donald Trump, known as the former president of the United States. This photo shows him holding a banner written in Khmer that means to tell people that if you all support the word “Khmer kills Khmer” is likely to support Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnam came to colonize Cambodia. Photo attached with this post has been shared several times, along with mixed reactions and expressions from Facebook users who are speaking Khmer.

A screenshot captured from a Facebook user’s post showing Donald Trump with the caption “Support the word, Khmer killing Khmer, is like supporting Hun Sen, supporting Vietnam, which colonized Cambodia”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.

A photo of Donald Trump with the same shape and format was found on an international news website called USA Today that was published on November 10, 2018. This report confirmed that the former US president is set to pay a state visit to Paris, France. Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photo which was used by Cambodian to show Trump holding a banner ,written in Khmer language was altered. It was taken at Andrews Joint Base in Maryland without showing his hand holding a banner at all.

The screenshot below was taken from a news media website titled in English as “Trump visits Paris to commemorate centennial of end of World War I”.

The following is the photo of Donald Trump arriving at Maryland airport for his departure to Paris, taken by Saul Loeb.

USA Today’s Report | Archived Link

The Boston Globe also reported on Trump's visit to France. This news report was published on November 10, 2018, showing an original photo of him heading off to France. Below is the additional image from the news websites that did not show him holding a banner in Khmer at all.

The Boston Globe's Report | Archived Link

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the photo posted and claimed by the above user was altered. This photo had been edited before it was posted on social media. The original photo was taken in 2018 at an airport before boarding to Paris, France. The original photo does not show his hands holding a banner written in Khmer at all.