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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Hebe Campbell

The Iran war video that fooled Donald Trump | Debunked

Donald Trump Iran United States

A viral video claiming to show an Iranian strike on a US warship has even fooled Donald Trump.

The AI-generated clip, viewed nearly four million times, appears to show the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Independent compared runway markings in the video with verified satellite images from 2012 and February 2026 – they do not match.

Its audio also shows telltale signs of AI generation with unnatural tone.

The footage was amplified by an account linked to Iranian media, but no evidence supports the claim.

The Independent also found multiple AI-generated videos, which have since been deleted, relating to the US-Israel-Iran conflict published by the same account.

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