An array of misrepresented and fabricated images circulated online soon after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s capture and the U.S. removal of him from public view, according to an Associated Press fact check published Monday.
The AP reported that President Donald Trump shared multiple videos that Trump falsely claimed showed Venezuelans celebrating the operation. It also said fabricated images of Maduro being apprehended spread across multiple platforms.
Below are examples AP identified as false or misleading, including two widely shared video claims and an image set that purported to show Maduro detained by U.S. military and Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
UCLA “Undie Run” video misrepresented as Venezuelans celebrating
One claim AP reviewed said a video of a large crowd running on a dark street showed Venezuelans celebrating after Maduro was captured. AP said the claim was false and that the shot, taken from above, actually shows students at the University of California, Los Angeles, participating in the “Undie Run,” a quarterly tradition students run in their underwear during finals week.
AP said Trump was among those misrepresenting the video. In Trump’s version shared on Truth Social, AP said a caption read, “Venezuela celebrates, Democrats cry,” and background audio and ominous music were used in the presentation. AP said that UCLA landmarks were visible in the footage, including the Wasserman Football Center and the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, and that the crowd appeared at the intersection of Strathmore Place and Charles E. Young Drive West, right before the tunnel where the run begins.
AP said the original video was posted to TikTok on Dec. 11 with the caption “ants #uclarundierun,” a caption that also appeared in versions circulating online, and that there was no background music in the original.
Caracas demonstration footage misused to portray end of the Maduro era
AP also reviewed a separate video claim that said a street packed with people showed Venezuelans celebrating the end of the Maduro administration. AP said that claim was false and that the video instead depicts a massive July 2024 demonstration in Caracas protesting the country’s disputed election—an election that election authorities called for Maduro.
AP said Trump also misrepresented this video on Truth Social, adding a screenshot of an X post that read, “INCREDIBLE! Millions of Venezuelans are celebrating the news of the collapse of the Maduro regime.”
According to AP, the demonstration video includes crowd noise as the camera pans across packed streets, with two cars moving slowly through the crowd and, later, a float carrying Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González. AP said the original version was posted to Instagram on July 30, 2024, and that images from major media outlets at the time showed the same float.
Fabricated “U.S. military and DEA” detention images, including Trump shares
AP reported that images claiming Maduro was detained by the U.S. military and DEA agents were fabricated. It said many of the images included a watermark crediting an Instagram user who described himself as a “professional in artificial intelligence.”
AP said the fabricated images depicted a man allegedly Maduro surrounded by men wearing military-style uniforms, including some with an American flag patch and others with a patch reading “DEA.” AP said the supposed Maduro wore a white shirt and a dark-colored jacket and that a small plane appeared in the background.
AP said Trump shared at least one such fabricated image on Truth Social Saturday morning with the caption “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.” In that image, AP said the man wore a gray sweatsuit and had both his ears and eyes covered.
AP directed readers to its fact-checks page for additional details.