Fact Check: Trump blames India for floods in Pakistan? No, video is AI-manipulated

Pakistan has evacuated over a million people (reports here and here) from Punjab’s farming belt as the region suffers its worst flooding in four decades, triggered by torrential monsoon rains. Experts and officials attribute the deadly floods, which have devastated hundreds of villages and killed hundreds, to a combination of climate change, poor urban planning, and overwhelmed drainage systems.

Meanwhile, a video of U.S. President Donald Trump has been circulating on social media, allegedly showing him blaming India for floods in Pakistan.

In the video, Trump can be heard saying, “Flood news Pakistan. Let me tell you the truth, and nobody tells the truth like I do. The horrible floods in Pakistan, the destruction, the tragedy - it is not just the climate. It is not just rain. It is India. Believe me, India opened their dams in Kashmir. Very unfair, very dangerous. They opened the gates, and millions of tons of water came rushing into Pakistan through the Ravi, through Chenab. Everybody knows it, but nobody says it. I am saying it. Pakistan is suffering. Villages underwater, families displaced, children crying, innocent people losing homes, losing crops, losing everything. And why? Because of reckless water releases by India. This is not cooperation. This is not friendship. This is sabotage. This is a crime against humanity, and I will say very clearly that the world must hold India accountable. Nobody should ever weaponise water, ever. But Pakistan, you are strong, you are resilient, you will rise again. I stand with you, and I call on people all over the world. If you want to help, if you want to stand with Pakistan in this difficult time, comment below. Help Pakistan and spread this message. Let us turn awareness into action. Together, we will bring relief, we will bring justice, and we will make Pakistan stronger than ever before. Believe me.”

An X user shared the video with the caption, “When India releases water, Pakistan drowns. When India holds it back, Pakistan dries. Pakistan, always sinking or thirsting, never thinking.” (Archive)

A similar claim can be found here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false, as the video has been manipulated using AI.

Did the media report on Trump blaming India for the floods in Pakistan?

We conducted a keyword search on Trump blaming India for floods in Pakistan, but did not find any credible reports. If the US President had publicly called out India, it would have been widely reported by reputable news outlets.

Discrepancy in the video

At one point in the video, Trump allegedly said, "If you want to help, if you want to stand with Pakistan in this difficult time, comment below." Why would a U.S. President ask for comments on a social media post to support Pakistan? This gave us the first clue that the video was a malicious work of AI manipulation.

Source of the video

A reverse image search of the viral clip's keyframes led us to the original video of over one minute published by Forbes Breaking on May 31, 2025, titled "'They Violated A Big Part Of The Agreement': Trump Slams China As Trade U.S.-China Deal Languishes."

In the video, Trump talks about China violating trade agreements, ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hamas, and deals with Iran. However, we did not find him speaking about India causing floods in Pakistan.

We also compared keyframes of the viral and original videos and found them identical.

Upon further investigation, we found that the Forbes video clip is from a joint press conference held by Trump in the Oval Office with Elon Musk, marking the conclusion of Musk’s tenure as a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The press conference was live-streamed for over 53 minutes on CNBC Television on May 30, 2025.

Key topics included government cost-cutting measures, future tariffs, praise for Musk’s reforms, and foreign policy issues such as China’s violation of trade agreements, the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Trump also spoke about India and Pakistan, stating that his administration had prevented the two nations from engaging in a conflict that could have escalated into a nuclear disaster. He expressed gratitude to the leaders and people of both countries for their cooperation.

However, we did not find Trump blaming India for the floods in Pakistan.

Tool result

We analysed the video’s audio using the AI detection tool Deepfake-O-Meter. Of its four detectors, one classified the audio as likely AI-generated with a 100 per cent confidence score, while the other three also flagged it as likely AI-generated with a confidence score exceeding 90 per cent.

PIB clarification

On August 30, the PIB Fact Check X handle clarified that "the U.S. President has made no such statement." The post stated that the viral clip is an AI-generated deepfake video.

Therefore, we conclude that the viral clip of Trump blaming India for floods in Pakistan is manipulated using AI.