A video authentically shows U.S. President Donald Trump waving to and saluting nobody prior to boarding his helicopter, Marine One, on Oct. 19.
Evidence from photojournalists on the scene confirms Trump was appearing to wave at people working on the construction of the new White House ballroom and saluting officials visible far behind and to the left side of the helicopter.
In mid-to-late October, a video spread purportedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump waving to and saluting nobody on the White House South Lawn prior to boarding his helicopter, Marine One.
For example, Democratic commentator Harry Sisson said the footage (archived) highlights how Trump is experiencing increasing “mental decline.”
The clip shows Trump walking toward Marine One — the call sign officials use when a president flies on a special fleet of helicopters — waving toward his left, continuing to walk and then waving, saluting and waving again in a slightly different direction, also off to his left. At the end of the clip, he salutes a Marine and boards the aircraft.
Numerous social media users and other left-leaning commentators shared the video and iterations of the rumor, including former cable news hosts Don Lemon and Joy Reid, as well as fellow progressive voice Adam Mockler. All three have prominent presences on YouTube.
Similarly, The New Republic initially reported, “Trump, 80, Wanders Off While Waving and Saluting to No One.” The publication displayed that headline as an image on social media.
In sum, while the clip is authentic, meaning it displays no signs of artificial-intelligence manipulation, evidence shows Trump was appearing to wave at people working on the construction of his new White House ballroom, which has replaced the demolished White House East Wing. He was also saluting and throwing smaller waves to other darkly-dressed officials positioned far behind and to the left side of the helicopter. Therefore, the above social media posts miscaptioned the video.
Fox News broadcast the same live moment leading up to the moment in question, helping to confirm the date this occurred, Oct. 19, as well as providing a clearer look at two or more darkly-dressed individuals standing next to a white fence whom the president appeared to salute (pictured below, to the left of Trump).
(Fox News)
Snopes contacted Lemon, Reid and Mockler to ask if they wished to address this matter but did not receive responses prior to publication. The New Republic declined to comment, but said it updated its report to include a new headline and other updated information. We also emailed the White House to ask if a spokesperson wished to respond to people sharing the false claim. We will update this article if we receive further information.
Reputable media-licensing website Getty Images hosts several photos with text captions providing more information about the moment in question. For example, a picture of Trump waving (shown at the top of this article) is captioned, “U.S. President Donald Trump waves to people working on building the new ballroom as he departs the White House on October 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C.” Other photographs show the ballroom construction happening behind Trump and people working on the project both on the ground and up high.
(Brendan Smialowski via Getty Images)
One of Getty’s captions says the picture below shows a construction worker giving Trump a thumbs-up sign as Marine One prepared for takeoff.
(Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
The Associated Press’ image-licensing website also provides more data, including a photo of the ballroom construction from the White House South Lawn, a glimpse of both the White House and ballroom construction from the Washington Monument, a view of Marine One flying over the work zone on the same day, and Trump giving a similar acknowledgement to workers with a fist sign last week.
For further reading, we previously reported on whether Trump took a 2.5% contractor fee on the construction of the new ballroom.
