Fact Check: Jaishankar asked to leave during Donald Trump’s inauguration? No, here’s the truth

Prominent Indian Americans, including political leaders, business figures and cultural representatives, took part in the ceremony and related events. Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar also attended the swearing-in ceremony as a special envoy and described the experience as a ‘great honour.’

His front-row presence has been widely shared by netizens.

Amid the event’s widespread coverage, a 35-second video went viral on social media, claiming that Jaishankar was asked to leave the venue.

An X user shared the video with the caption: “It’s truly shameful that the authorities demanded EAM S. Jaishankar’s removal from the show. As an Indian, I am deeply hurt and strongly condemn this act. The Indian government must take notice and appropriate action should be taken.” (Archive)

The text on the video claims to describe how when a security official approached S Jaishankar and asked him to leave, he ignored her, making her ‘fail her mission’ and leave.

Similar posts with the same claim were shared by others, which can be seen here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. A closer inspection of the video revealed that the interaction was not directed at Jaishankar but at a photographer who was supposedly blocking the view by taking pictures from the front.

A keyword search led to the official video of the inaugural ceremony on the YouTube channel of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, titled ‘The 60th Inaugural Ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol’ livestreamed on January 20.

At the 3:08:43 timestamp, the clip that has gone viral appeared in the video. By observing the clip from 3:08:30 to 3:08:51, what actually transpired can be understood.

Timeline of how the incident panned out

3:08:31: A photographer with blond hair can be seen kneeling in the walkway and taking pictures.

3:08:34: The photographer moves left and positions herself right in front of Jaishankar.

3:08:43: We can see her raising her arms and taking pictures. In the video, her arms are directly in front of Jaishankar. The viral clip starts from here.

3:08:51: The official walks up to the photographer, whose hair is only visible in the frame, being in front of Jaishankar.

The official taps the photographer on the shoulder who ducks and goes completely out of the frame and then their interaction ensues. The official walks back after she finishes talking.

We have also included a screenshot of the interaction between the official and the photographer which clearly shows the line of sight of the official looking down at the photographer and not up at Jaishankar.

3:09:18: The music concludes. The photographer gets up and walks to the back of the crowd and out of the frame, supposedly following the instructions given to her by the official.

We also found videos of the ceremony from other sources and angles that showed the same set of events.

Additional evidence from an NBC News report further confirmed the sequence.

At the 3:09:03 hour mark, the photographer can be seen kneeling and taking pictures near Jaishankar. At 3:09:28, she can be seen ducking and moving to her left (as seen in the screenshot mentioned earlier). At 3:09:28, in a long shot, we can see the same interaction between the official and the photographer.

Another video from the Associated Press also showed their interaction in front of Jaishankar from a different angle from the 5:32:56 mark.

Therefore, the sequence of events captured by various news media outlets showed that it is not true that Foreign Affairs minister S Jaishankar was asked to leave US president Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.

The interaction in the video was of an official talking to a photographer in front of Jaishankar.