THE CLAIM
A video posted on TikTok by modernlif199 captioned “Trump telling Museveni to retire ”.
The viral video was posted on 26th December, 2025, and has a viewership of 1M, 53.8k likes, 1,817 comments, 4,244 bookmarks and 18.1k shares. The video drew public attention because during this period, the country was preparing for the 2026 general election.
Donald Trump is an American politician, media personality and businessman. He is a member of the Republican Party and currently the 47th president of the United States. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been Uganda’s president since 1986, and by the time the post was made by modernlif199 he was vying for the 7th term as the President of Uganda.
The claim being posted during the electoral season, as Uganda prepared for the 2026 general elections that were to be conducted in January, made it critical due to public perception, since it shapes public opinion about their leaders but also the sovereignty of a nation to govern itself without external pressure and control.
The narration in the post made by modernlif199 claims that Trump urged Ugandans not to forgive Museveni and that he (Trump) will offer help to Uganda to oust him from power.
VERIFICATION
Upon verifying the claim, I used Debunk Verifier, a fact-checking website, by inputting the claim statement for first-hand analysis.
The InfoVerifier expert tools indicated and affirmed that the claim is false, as seen in the picture below.
I also conducted a Google reverse image search to locate the source of the claim and the user.
I was able to review the content of CBS News on YouTube on 19th July, 2024, in which a cut-out was made and posted by modernlif199. The post claims that President Donald Trump will end President Yoweri Museveni’s reign.
In the video,
1. President Trump takes the stage to address the audience.
2. He kicks off the speech by thanking particular individuals who have stood by him during that time.
3. He goes ahead to tell the audience how he had carried a message of confidence for victory in the American presidential polls.
4. Furthermore, President Trump talks about his assassination attempt in Butler Township in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania after he lays out his manifesto.
5. He then concludes the speech with appreciative remarks towards everyone.
No statement in the video affirms the claim. The manipulated TikTok video of @modernlif199 holds a statement that misleads the public about President Trump telling President Museveni to retire as the country prepares for the 2026 general elections.
FACTS
Based on the content in the original broadcast of CBS News of 19th July 2024, where a video was cut out, President Trump never talks about Museveni’s retirement, nor does he mention ousting President Museveni from power. The video was manipulated through artificial intelligence.
VERDICT
MANIPULATED: The claim that Donald Trump told Museveni to retire is false. The video used to support the claim shows Trump speaking at the Republican National Convention, but the words attributed to him were manipulated and do not match the actual speech. Whereas the footage is real, the content in the claim video was manipulated. In the original speech, Trump never made such remarks towards Yoweri Museveni. Whereas the video footage is real, the claim misrepresents the facts of the original video.
This fact-check was produced by Alternative Digitalk with support from Debunk Media Initiative and BBC Media Action.