"British media reported on a massive rally in London, where British protesters demonstrated against their government and expressed support for President Trump, the leader of the United States, in his efforts to end the war in Ukraine," reads the Thai-language caption to a video posted on X on March 5, 2025.
The video shows a crowd of people on a street waving US and British flags as they chant "We love Trump!"
It surfaced after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warmly welcomed Zelensky to London, ahead of a summit of Kyiv’s European allies to discuss how to support Ukraine as it battles Russia's invading forces (archived link).
The talks came just two days after Trump erupted at Zelensky, angrily sending the Ukrainian leader out of the White House after an extraordinary Oval Office meltdown because he was "not ready" for peace with Russia (archived link).
Trump halted military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but that resumed after Washington and Kyiv agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire on March 11 (archived link). Moscow said it was awaiting details of the proposal, and has given no indication of its readiness to stop fighting that has left tens of thousands of dead in the past three years.
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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on March 6, 2025
The footage was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook as well as on X, where it was viewed millions of times.
"Might as well become the 51st state before Canada," read a comment on one of the posts.
Another said: "Britons are much smarter. They won't let their taxes be wasted or their soldiers be killed for Ukraine."
But the video in fact shows a protest from July 2018.
Whitehall rally
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage shared in a longer YouTube video posted on July 16, 2018 (archived link).
The video's description indicates the crowd had gathered on July 14, 2018 at Whitehall, site of the main British government offices in London, for a pro-Trump rally and to call for the release of former far-right leader Tommy Robinson (archived link).
At the time, Trump -- in his first term as president -- was on an official visit to the United Kingdom, where he met with Conservative prime minister Theresa May (archived link).
Supporters of the president, particularly the so-called "alt-right", had taken up anti-Islam activist Robinson's cause (archived link). The far-right agitator was serving a prison sentence for live-streaming outside a court in breach of reporting restrictions around a trial.
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Screenshot comparison between the falsely shared clip (left) and the footage posted in July 2018 (right)
Similar images showing the protest are available in AFP's archives.
UK broadcaster Sky News and Evening Standard newspaper covered the rally, reporting there had been clashes and 12 arrests (archived here and here).
Sky News reported that thousands of people had taken part in the demonstrations, which came a day after an estimated 100,000 people marched through London to oppose Trump's visit.