Fact Check | Indian minister Jaishankar wasn't asked to leave Donald Trump's inauguration
Live footage disproves claims that Indian EAM S. Jaishankar was asked to leave Trump’s inauguration ceremony
The Verdict False
The live footage clearly shows that a photographer, standing in front of S. Jaishankar, was asked to move and stand behind.
What is the claim?
A 35-second clip from U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent inaugural ceremony has gone viral on social media, claiming that the authorities asked Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to leave the event.
In the video, Jaishankar is seen standing in the front row as a song plays in the background. A woman holding a paper stands beside him and points her hand toward the back of the crowd. This segment of the video has been widely shared online to claim that the woman asked Jaishankar to step back and leave.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “ It’s truly shameful that the authorities demanded EAM S. Jaishankar’s removal from the show. As an Indian, I am deeply hurt and strongly condemn this act. The Indian government must take notice and appropriate action should be taken.” Archived versions of similar posts shared on X can be viewed here, here, and here.
Screenshot of viral posts circulating on social media. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at the Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025, following his victory in the November 2024 elections. Several foreign ministers from countries like Japan and Australia attended the ceremony, with Jaishankar notably seated in the front row.
However, we found that the viral claim is false. The live footage of the ceremony clearly shows that a photographer standing in front of Jaishankar was asked to move behind, not Jaishankar.
What did we find?
We accessed the event's live coverage, which was streamed on the official YouTube channel of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (archived here). The visuals are similar to the angle seen in the now-viral video. At the 3:08:34 timestamp, we can see a photographer in black moving toward Jaishankar, who is standing at the front of the crowd, and at the 3:08:39 timestamp, she is standing directly in front of him, taking pictures. Shortly after, as seen in the viral clip, a woman from the left side approaches the front row, touches the photographer’s shoulder, and gestures for her to move behind. As the song concludes, at 3:09:18, the photographer gets up and moves back.
Additionally, it should be noted that the woman's line of sight aligns with the photographer's position, who knelt down after being asked to move, rather than with Jaishankar, who remained standing.
A close look at a zoomed-in and slowed-down version of the incident shows that the photographer can be seen standing in front of Jaishankar, and the woman touches the photographer's hand, not Jaishankar’s shoulder, prompting the photographer to turn toward her.
We also checked the other live videos of the inaugural ceremony uploaded by PBS NewsHour (archived here) and NBC News (archived here), but did not find any such instance of Jaishankar being told to leave.
The verdict
As claimed in the viral video, S. Jaishankar was not asked to leave Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony. The live coverage of the ceremony clearly shows the woman asking the photographer standing in front of Jaishankar to move behind.
(This article was first posted by logicallyfacts.com and re-shared by Deccan Chronicle as part of the Shakti Collective Fact Check initiative).
