Tag: Snopes News

Claim:

A photograph taken in September 2026 authentically shows U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump staring at the camera and frowning.

Rating:

In September 2026, some people on social media shared an image that appeared to show U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump frowning as they stared into the camera lens.

For example, one X post (archived) said of the image, “For just a moment, the world saw their true nature. This is a real photo.”

The same image was shared to Reddit (archived) and Threads (archived). Some social media users doubted the authenticity of the image.

The image is authentic, though cropped. The original photo, which includes Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan during their state visit to the U.S., was taken on Sept. 24, 2026 by Getty photographer Chip Somodevilla. We were unable to find any verifiable information as to why the Trumps were frowning at that moment.

The caption of Somodevilla’s photo reads: 

A military aide, U.S. first lady Melania Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump, President of China Xi Jinping, and first lady of China Peng Liyuan depart a balcony after watching a Silent Drill Platoon Review at the White House on September 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is hosting President Xi for a three-day state visit to Washington, DC where the leaders are expected to discuss trade practices, artificial intelligence and furthering ‘strategic stability’ between their countries.

An almost identical photo taken by Reuters photographer Evan Vucci is featured on Reuters Connect, Reuters’ licensable photo repository. That caption is less specific than the Getty caption, instead reading, “President Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after watching a military demonstration from a balcony of the White House in Washington, September 24.”

Reuters Connect also offers two other, more zoomed-out versions of the same photo. These versions photo match Somodevilla’s Getty photo by including Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan, on the far right of the same balcony.

The four can be seen watching the referenced military demonstration in another Reuters photo.

The Associated Press’ own photo repository has photos from just before and about the same time as the Getty and Reuters photos were taken. One shows Melania Trump still looking at Jinping, while the other has both Trumps looking just past the camera, similar to the Reuters photo. 

Two other AP photos, one of Trump gesturing for Jinping to walk ahead of him and another of the pair walking side-by-side, suggests the four were heading inside the White House from the military demonstration with the two presidents walking ahead of the two first ladies.

Somodevilla apparently shot another photo a couple of seconds after his first one. In that photo, the Trumps’ frowns are less pronounced than in the photo that spread on social media.

For further reading, Snopes recently compiled a collection of real Trump quotes we’ve fact-checked.

Claim:

The reason for high U.S. gas prices in 2026 wasn’t the Iran war but instead California Gov. Gavin Newsom forcing four California refineries to close.

Rating:

What’s True

Two California refineries, not four, recently shut down, including Phillips 66’s Los Angeles Refinery in October 2025 and Valero’s Benicia refinery in April 2026. Valero’s leadership cited state regulations as part of the reason the company closed its plant in the Bay Area. Also, California gas prices rose nearly 40 cents per gallon between January and February — prior to the start of the Iran war — with some analysts blaming Newsom’s administration. However …

What’s False

… no evidence suggests Newsom’s actions forced the closure of the refineries. Professionals knowledgable in fuel industry matters have repeatedly cited the Iran war, as well as the resulting closures of Middle East shipping routes, as the primary factors causing higher nationwide gas prices in 2026. Data shows nationwide fuel prices dramatically rose in the weeks immediately following the beginning of the Iran war in late February and early March, just as prices similarly rose in the weeks after Russia — a major oil supplier — invaded Ukraine in late February 2022. Oil companies that closed refineries in California cited reasons including high costs and low earnings for the decisions.

In September 2026, people shared social media posts claiming the reason for high U.S. gas prices wasn’t the Iran war but instead the alleged “forced” closures of “4 oil refineries” due, supposedly, to actions taken by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

For example, on Sept. 17, Timothy Wilcox, who reportedly ran in the 2026 Connecticut gubernatorial race as a Republican, posted (archived) on Facebook, “The price of gas is caused by California forcing the shut down of 4 oil refineries, not Iran war. The blame lies with Newsom.” Others shared the claim on Facebook and X.

Snopes received a handful of reader emails asking if it was true that Newsom’s administration, not the Iran war, was largely to blame for the rise in nationwide gas prices. One person emailed, “I’m hearing Gavin Newsom closed oil refineries in CA which is the reason gas is so expensive rather than trumps war in iran. Why honestly are gas prices so high right now?”

In sum, a deep study of this matter found the rumor was mostly false.

Two California refineries, not four, shut down in the past 12 months, representing a 17% loss in the state’s refining capacity and less than 2% loss in national capacity. Phillips 66’s leadership named high production costs and “very low” earnings as the reasons its Los Angeles refinery closed in Carson and Wilmington in October 2025. A company spokesperson reportedly said one of Newsom’s regulatory bill signings wasn’t a factor in Phillips 66’s decision. Meanwhile, the leadership of Valero cited both state regulations and high maintenance costs as reasons for its April 2026 Benicia plant closure in the Bay Area.

Professionals knowledgable in energy sector matters, for example the GasBuddy petroleum analysis company, the Institute for Energy Research nonprofit organization and other analysts, have cited the Iran war, as well as the resulting closures of Middle East shipping routes, as the primary factor underlying higher U.S. gas prices in 2026.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration website hosts week-to-week historical data for gas and diesel prices, showing nationwide fuel prices dramatically rising in the weeks immediately following the beginning of the war in late February and early March, just as prices similarly rose in the weeks after Russia — a major oil supplier — invaded Ukraine in late February 2022.

The Institute for Energy Research also published an article specifically about California state gas prices. Citing what it labeled “Newsom’s radical environmental agenda,” the organization asserted that refinery closures stemmed from Newsom’s “detrimental” regulatory policies, the state’s increasing import needs, California reportedly having the highest state-level gas tax of all states, and other factors. The article also pointed out, accurately, that California’s average gas price rose by nearly 40 cents in the first two months of the year, prior to the start of the Iran war. (Regarding the claim central to this fact-check about nationwide gas prices, this data about California only pertains to one of the 50 U.S. states and none of the territories.)

Via Messenger, we asked Timothy Wilcox for evidence to support his claim. We also emailed representatives for GasBuddy, Newsom, the Oil Price Information Service, Phillips 66 and Valero. A Newsom spokesperson referred us to a spokesperson for the California Energy Commission, who shared some resources specifically about California’s own gas prices, as well as a comparison showing the state’s gas prices rising and falling along trend lines similar to national prices, although California prices were higher than other states. Correspondence from a GasBuddy analyst appears below, as does past investor earnings call information from Phillips 66 and Valero. We will update this article if we receive further details.

Correspondence with Wilcox

Regarding Wilcox’s Sept. 17 post, he responded to our request for evidence with a set of bullet points resembling a copied-and-pasted answer from an AI tool (for example Google’s “AI Overview”). The message said four California refineries — including the Bay Area’s Marathon facility in Martinez, the Phillips 66 location in Rodeo and Valero plant in Benicia, and the Phillips 66 Los Angeles refinery in Carson and Wilmington — were closing or shutting down crude oil operations to concentrate on renewable fuel production.

However, Wilcox’s answer to Snopes contained data conflicting with his own claim. It called global crude oil prices and the Iran war a “major driver” of current U.S. price increases. It also provided information specifically about California’s own state gas prices, for example saying, “It’s too simplistic to say the refinery closures are the main reason California gas prices are rising.”

In later messages, Wilcox answered “no” to our question whether he used an AI tool to produce this information. We presented him with the above points, upon which he clarified he had used ChatGPT.

GasBuddy analysis

Patrick De Haan, who works for the petroleum analysis company GasBuddy, told us that only two California refineries — not four, as claimed — had ceased crude oil processing within the last year. Phillips 66 ceased operations at the Los Angeles refinery in October 2025, followed by Valero’s April 2026 shutdown of its Benicia refinery. (Newsom’s office issued a statement in January 2026 pledging his administration’s coordination with Valero to help maintain a stable fuel supply.)

De Haan contended that Phillips 66 and Valero executives made the decisions to end crude oil processing and that it wasn’t “some political decision” forcing the shutdown of operations:

Some of the reason refineries chose to close may have been due to growing number of requirements for operating a refinery in California, but that was a business decision by those refineries, not a policy change that forced them.

By and large the biggest impacts are the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. attacked Iran [and] Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries (heavily impacting record global diesel prices). California’s sales tax on diesel, for example, is collecting nearly 40c/gal more than this time a year ago, so that would also be a factor.

Claims addressed in past investor calls

Investor earnings calls from 2025 and 2026 provided more information about this subject, with executive leadership for Phillips 66 and Valero detailing reasons for the two site closures in Los Angeles and Benicia, as well as appearing to attribute rising fuel costs to the U.S. going to war with Iran.

During an April 24, 2025, earnings call, Lane Riggs, Valero’s CEO and president, fielded a question about the reason for the Benicia refinery closure. In his answer (20:33), Riggs cited California as “the most stringent and difficult of anywhere else in North America” in terms of the state’s regulatory and enforcement environment. He mentioned the fact that several refineries closed following the COVID-19 pandemic and also that the Benicia site “costs considerably more to maintain” versus another one of the company’s California plants.

Richard Harbison, Phillips 66’s executive vice president of refining, fielded a similar question during a Feb. 4, 2026, earnings call, regarding why the company chose to close the Los Angeles Refinery. Harbison cited the reason for the shutdown, saying, “One, the cost to produce was very high, and the materiality of the earnings was very low, if not negative, in a number of cases.”

Phillips 66 announced the Los Angeles Refinery closure plans on Oct. 16, 2024, just two days after Newsom signed a bill enacting new regulations reportedly in an effort to strengthen oil companies’ supply and protect consumer costs. According to S&P Global, Phillips 66 spokesperson Al Ortiz said the closure plans had nothing to do with the new law, saying, “This decision is not related to the recent bill signing. We want to continue to be a trusted and deliberate partner with the state.” We emailed Ortiz with questions about the rumor and will update this article if we receive further word.

Regarding remarks about the Iran war, Mark Lashier, board chairman and chief executive officer for Phillips 66, began his comments on the company’s April 29, 2026, earnings call (archived) — the first call since the beginning of the Iran war — saying of fuel prices, “Geopolitical events in the Middle East drove unprecedented commodity price volatility during the quarter.” Seconds later, he added, “Due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a significant amount of global refining and petrochemical capacity is down.” He then spoke highly of his company’s purported “high utilization” in supplying products to customers.

On April 30, Gary Simmons, Valero’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, specifically referenced during an earnings call (video at 15:35) the Iran war and closed straits, for example the Strait of Hormuz, saying that “the conflict in Iran has really created a market with demand significantly outpacing supply” — meaning higher prices for consumers. Three months later, during the July 30 earnings call, Simmons spoke again of the Middle East and said Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refining capacity were “beginning to have a significant impact on the market,” adding, “And I don’t see those slowing down.”

Other plants closed well before 2026 gas-price spike

As for the other two refinery sites Wilcox mentioned in his Facebook post, including Marathon’s Martinez plant and Phillips 66’s Rodeo location, both appear to have stopped processing crude oil prior to 2026.

According to NBC Bay Area, the Marathon refinery in Martinez stopped crude oil processing in April 2020 due to travel restrictions and a plummeting demand for fuel at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by low gas prices. Later that August, Marathon announced plans to end the plant’s crude oil processing and begin renewable fuel production. Also in August 2020, Phillips 66 announced a plan to end crude oil processing at its Rodeo site and instead produce renewable fuel. Phillips 66 reportedly stopped processing crude oil at the facility in February 2024.

For further reading, we previously reported about the time former President Joe Biden falsely claimed the average gas price was over $5 per gallon when he took office in January 2021. 

Sources

Trump Said He Doesn’t Need To Tell Supporters To Be Non-Violent

Nov. 5, 2024

Despite Trump supporters leading the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, he told reporters, “My s …

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Claim:

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in September 2026 that he had prepared for the chance that U.S. President Donald Trump might order military action against Canada.

Rating:

Context

The New York Times paraphrased Carney, who said he had prepared during the past year for the “extreme tail risk” that Trump might order military action against Canada. Carney also noted that he had been in regular contact with Trump. We have reached out to Carney’s office to learn more.

In September 2026, a rumor spread online that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said Canada was prepared for an invasion from the U.S. One X post (archived) making the claim read: 

Mark Carney told The New York Times in an interview on Wednesday that he studied the possibility of Donald Trump launching a military invasion of Canada, arguing that “it would be irresponsible not to” prepare for such a scenario.

While Carney did say that he had prepared over the past year for the “extreme tail risk” that Trump might order a military invasion of Canada, his remarks were partly paraphrased by The New York Times. He also noted that he had been in frequent contact with Trump. Therefore we rate this claim as true with additional context.

Snopes reached out to Carney’s office to determine his exact words and will update this report if we receive a response.

On Sept. 23, 2026, Carney spoke to The New York Times. According to the report: 

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said that he had prepared over the past year for the “extreme tail risk” that President Trump might order military action against Canada, but disclosed that the two men have spoken “frequently,” even since trade talks collapsed last month, describing a tense, evolving relationship.

The Times asked Carney about whether he took Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state seriously. Carney, while declining to comment on details, said, “I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk.” The Times then paraphrased part of his next statement:

“That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to” prepare.

Carney also said about his communication with Trump:

From my perspective, we have a good relationship in the sense of we can pick up the phone and talk to each other about issues … He’s direct. I’m direct in terms of where positions are. It’s much more efficient that way, and so you know that exists and that will continue to exist.

For further reading, Snopes has covered numerous rumors about Carney. 

Sources

Claim:

Former President Barack Obama thanked reporters in his final news conference as president, telling them, “You’re not supposed to be sycophants. You’re supposed to be skeptics,” and, “You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power.”

Rating:

In September 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his efforts to control how the news media covers him by banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The outlets sued the Trump administration in response, calling it a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

Critics of Trump have compared his hostility toward the media with former President Barack Obama’s handling of journalists. For example, one Facebook post (archived) said “that’s how a real man deals with the press” beneath a purported quote from Obama at his last briefing with White House reporters in 2017:

I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I’ve enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that’s the point of this relationship. You’re not supposed to be sycophants. You’re supposed to be skeptics. You’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power.

Users made similar posts (archived) referencing Obama’s apparent words from that news conference on Instagram (archived) and Threads (archived).

The quote about the importance of a press critical of the president is correctly attributed to Obama.

In a video of Obama’s final news conference as president available on the Obama White House YouTube channel, Obama says the quote at 1:48.

What Obama says matches transcripts kept by the American Presidency Project and the Obama White House archive (emphasis ours):

But I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I’ve enjoyed every story that you have filed. But that’s the point of this relationship. You’re not supposed to be sycophants, you’re supposed to be skeptics. You’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here. 
 
And you have done that. And you’ve done it, for the most part, in ways that I could appreciate for fairness even if I didn’t always agree with your conclusions. And having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest. It makes us work harder. It made us think about how we are doing what we do and whether or not we’re able to deliver on what’s been requested by our constituents.

For further reading, we recently investigated a claim that former President Joe Biden revoked press passes and compared his administration’s changes with Trump’s recent ban.

In September 2026, The Guardian published an investigation revealing that Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, was once a member of a Washington, D.C., Alcoholics Anonymous group that some have described as a “cult.” The Guardian also spoke to several former members of the Midtown AA group who claimed they were sexually exploited by older members while they were involved. 

The claim quickly spread online, where some questioned why the reporting that Carr spent roughly a decade in a “child sex trafficking cult,” was not making headlines. Snopes readers wrote in asking for more information about the claim.

The Guardian is generally a trustworthy source of information, and we found no indication that the claims made in the article were untrue. However, because we have been unable to independently verify those findings, we are unable to rate the claim. 

Snopes contacted multiple former Midtown members who have spoken publicly about their experiences as part of reporting this story, including Mandi Pagliarini, who posted a video on her Instagram page saying she was one of The Guardian’s anonymous sources and that she had dated Carr while both were members. We asked Pagliarini to provide primary evidence corroborating her past relationship with Carr and will update this story if we learn more. We also contacted the FCC to ask about Carr’s involvement at Midtown, but had not received a reply at time of publication.

There is one crucial thing to note that many social media posts neglected to mention — former members did say Carr was a member of Washington, D.C.’s Midtown AA group, but we found no evidence that anybody had directly accused him of misconduct. In fact, multiple former members suggested the opposite. One former member told The Guardian that Carr was a “victim” who was “‘never among’ the predators.” In her Instagram video, Pagliarini, who said she dated Carr for a time, described him as a “warm, sensitive person who was a safe place for me in a horribly abuse, exploitative, imprisoning situation.”

According to The Guardian, Carr joined the Midtown AA group in 1996 and left sometime around 2005 or 2006, though exactly when was not clear. The group, led by a former Vietnam veteran named “Mike Q,” real name Edward Orlando Quinones, had a reputation as a safe space for teenagers and young adults, not all of whom reported having drinking problems.

But the group was a “rigidly insular world” under Quinones’ leadership, according to a 2007 story from The Washington Post that was some of the earliest public reporting on the allegations of sexual misconduct. “Ties to family and friends were severed or strained, and the most vulnerable of alcoholics, some suffering from emotional problems, were encouraged to stop taking prescribed medications,” the story said. 

A former member told The Washington Post that she was “passed around” from Midtown leader to Midtown leader and that her sponsor encouraged her to have sex with Quinones. A different former member described Quinones to The Guardian as the “Epstein of AA,” and said shortly before he died, Quinones confessed to her that he had sex with a 15-year-old.

However, Quinones never faced charges connected to sexual relations with underage people, according to The Post. The victims who spoke publicly about their experiences in 2007 were 16 and 17 years old at the time of the misconduct, above the age of consent in Maryland. One member told The Guardian she actually recalled overhearing older male members discuss the importance of having sex with teenagers in Maryland and not Virginia, where the age of consent is 18.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a decentralized organization that does not oversee individual groups. It maintains a list of strongly recommended practices, but former members said Midtown operated differently.

As examples: AA suggests that new members are paired with older sponsors of the same gender to help them through the recovery process. At Midtown, young teenage girls were often paired with men decades older than them. AA also suggests that new members remain single for a year. Former Midtown members told The Washington Post and Guardian that they were encouraged to date within weeks. 

According to The Guardian, one former member recalled Carr as “sensitive and desperate for the approval of others.” A former roommate, also a member of Midtown, said both he and Carr had “drunk the Kool-Aid.” A third said he felt the misconduct happening was evident to group members.

“He knew the deal and he hung around there … I did the same thing. But I should not be the chair of the FCC, either,” one said. 

Claim:

Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized each other’s thoughts about compassion.

Rating:

In September 2026, a claim circulated alleging Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance had a back-and-forth of verbal jabs criticizing each other on the subject of compassion.

For example, Sept. 23, a Facebook user named Dee Wallace after the “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” actor, shared (archived) an image with photos of Vance and Leo.

(@DeeWallaceOfficialFB via Facebook)

According to the post’s caption, Vance responded to one of Leo’s messages, with Vance calling compassion a form of weakness. Leo then supposedly responded with a “fiery” retort:

BREAKING: J.D. Vance attacks Pope Leo XIV — and gets a FIERY response he won’t soon forget

J.D. Vance thought he could score political points by criticizing Pope Leo XIV’s message of compassion and inclusion. Instead, the pontiff delivered a response that left the room stunned.

“You say compassion is weakness,” Pope Leo XIV began. “Then when did caring for the sick become weakness? When did helping the poor become weakness? When did loving our neighbors become weakness?”

The audience fell silent.

Then came the line that hit hardest:

“Can we imagine hatred in heaven? Can we imagine cruelty in heaven? Then why do we tolerate these things on earth?”

What started as a political attack quickly turned into a powerful moral challenge — and a message that is now spreading far beyond that room.

Please like and share Pope Leo XIV’s inspiring words!

Other Facebook users shared the claim. A Snopes reader also asked of the rumor, “Is this a true story?”

Searches of DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo failed to locate any news media outlets reporting about the alleged discussion, including the purported direct quotes. If the story truly occurred, journalists with reputable outlets, such as The Associated Press or Reuters, would have widely reported on it. That was not the case.

In sum, we found the rumor was fictional and was created with the help of artificial intelligence.

Some of Vance’s authentic past remarks about Leo possibly served as the inspiration for the fabricated story and fake quotes. In April, Vance, speaking at a rally for the conservative Turning Point USA organization, said he likes when the pope comments on immigration, abortion and matters of war and peace, even when there’s disagreement. He also said he believed the pope should “be careful” when opining about theology.

Regarding the Facebook account named for Wallace, no evidence credibly confirmed the actor shared the post. The Facebook account displayed the word “official” in the handle — @DeeWallaceOfficialFB — as well as a verification badge supposedly designating authenticity. However, upon selecting the word “Copywriter” near the top of the profile, then clicking “Transparency and privacy policy,” we found an older page name previously defined its purpose as a fan page, as well as that six accounts based in Vietnam served as its only managers. The page’s recent posts all featured some forms of AI and fiction, as well.

We contacted a representative for Wallace to ask about this matter and will update this article if we receive further details. We were unable to contact the Facebook page via Messenger.

Researching the AI slop rumor

This claim about Leo and Vance resembled glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as “stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental.” Creators of such content capitalize on social media users’ willingness to believe and share the made-up stories, profiting from advertising revenue on external websites to which the posts link. (Snopes has previously reported on the business strategy.)

One of the aforementioned search engine queries found articles from June telling a longer version of the same story. A generic-looking, advertisement-filled WordPress blog that hosted the stories — named only “News And Tips” — included some Vietnamese-language characters and lacked standard signals of authenticity, for example including standard legal documentation including a terms of service and privacy policy, as well as information about a website’s founding.

One of the blog articles included some text appearing to guide users on how to publish monetized, emotionally charged content. A scan of the story’s text with the artificial intelligence detection tool Pangram displayed the results, “We believe that this entire text is AI,” as well as, “100% of this text is AI.”

Snopes doesn’t depend solely on AI detection tools, which vary in reliability, and instead considers the tools’ results as one of several data points toward judging an image’s authenticity. For Pangram, we bear in mind the platform’s strong performance in third-party and internal evaluations, as well as criticisms of the tool.

For further reading, we previously reported about a rumor alleging Leo used AI to write parts of his first encyclical.

Claim:

In September 2026, a Trump-branded gas station opened in Branson, Missouri, selling gasoline for around $20 a gallon.

Rating:

A claim that a new, Trump-branded gas station in Branson, Missouri, is selling gasoline at close to $20 a gallon spread online in September 2026. For example, a Sept. 19 Facebook post spreading the claim featured a headline reading “‘Trump Fuel’ Station Turns Heads With Eye-Popping Prices.”

(Facebook user Thomas Jay Osadsky)

The story spread amid an extended period of high gas prices across the world as a result of the U.S. war with Iran, and seemingly referenced the Freedom Fuel stations promoted by the Trump administration. Some users appeared to interpret the story about the gas station as true, and Snopes readers contacted us to investigate its legitimacy.

We first used search engines such as DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo to see whether the claim was true. If the new gas station’s exorbitant prices were real, journalists with reputable news outlets in the local area would have reported on it, and those search inquiries would have uncovered such evidence. 

That was not the case. We did not find any credible reporting about a Trump-branded gas station opening in Branson.

We identified the rumor’s original source, however: the Branson Area Breaking News Facebook Page, which describes its content as satirical and humorous in nature. The page’s bio reads, “We are a world renowned satirical news organization & have received many awards for our breaking news stories!” 

Branson Area Breaking News first shared the story about the “Trump Fuel” station on Sept. 18. We reached out to the page’s administrators for a comment on the fact that the post was being shared on Facebook by other users with no indication the story was satire. We will update this story if we receive a response.

If there’s a relatively outlandish claim spreading online about Branson, Missouri, there’s a decent chance it started as a satirical rumor from the Branson Area Breaking News Facebook page. Snopes has covered several claims originating from the page in the past, like fake videos of a flooded street filled with alligators and of the city’s water tower falling down. 

Since the effectiveness of satire is subjective, we use “originated as satire” or “labeled satire” ratings based on creators’ description of their work. It’s your call on whether you agree.

Sources

Claim:

A video and a screenshot from that footage authentically show the overflow crowd at a Minnesota rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in September 2026.

Rating:

Context

The footage and the screenshot are both from a pro-Trump rally held in Minnesota in July 2024, not September 2026.

In September 2026, a video and screenshots from the same footage circulated online purportedly showing supporters at a Minnesota rally for U.S. President Donald Trump that same month.

Examples of the clip were posted on X and Instagram, and the screengrabs appeared on X and Facebook. The captions were similar, in one instance reading, “This is literally just the OVERFLOW CROWD of people that couldn’t get in to the Minnesota Trump Rally Saturday night!”

In short, the above footage does show a pro-Trump rally but it was not captured in September 2026. The rally took place in July 2024. As such, the video and screenshots are miscaptioned. 

Closely analyzing one screengrab shows a sign in the background that reads, “Trump 2024.”

(X user @DanScavino)

Google’s reverse image search tool also shows the footage appeared online in 2024.

Dan Scavino, a member of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, posted the video to X on July 27, 2024, writing: “The overflow crowd here in St. Cloud, Minnesota this evening at the MASSIVE #TrumpRally!”

The clip appears to be authentic, meaning it shows no signs of being digitally edited or generated using an artificial intelligence tool.

Photographs from picture archive Getty Images show the same, tall “Trump 2024” signs being used outside the St. Cloud, Minnesota, Trump rally on July 27, 2024.

Right-wing news outlet The Gateway Pundit also covered the rally in 2024. One attendee reportedly claimed the overflow crowd numbered around 12,000 people. 

In the 2024 election, Trump lost in Minnesota to Democratic presidential candidate and then-Vice President Kamala Harris, but won overall.

Snopes has covered numerous stories of images and footage from campaign rallies, some of which are real, some miscaptioned and others that were intended as satire.

Sources

Baio, Ariana. “Donald Trump Scolds CNN Anchor for Covering Him at the UN.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 22 Sept. 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/22/trump-scolds-cnn-anchor-kaitlan-collins-un. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.

Izzo, Jack. “Did Biden Revoke More Than 400 Press Passes? How Changes Compare to Trump’s Media Ban.” Snopes, Snopes.com, 21 Sept. 2026, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/biden-press-passes-trump-ban/. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.

Noveck, Jocelyn. “CNN, MS NOW, Politico Sue Over Denied White House Access.” AP News, 21 Sept. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/trump-ban-ms-now-media-cnn-politico-72f9acf68244ca70e9078d9d3661c722. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.

Weissert, Will. “Trump Says He Is Banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico From the White House.” AP News, 18 Sept. 2026, https://apnews.com/article/trump-cnn-msnow-politico-media-bans-bb675679fb10738a51bef90bde6c525a. Accessed 22 Sept. 2026.