A doctored video apparently showing a man walking on stage and smacking US President Donald Trump in the back of the head has circulated online as a bitter trade war between Washington and Beijing escalated. The original footage from 2016 shows Secret Service agents rushing to surround Trump after a man had attempted to climb onstage at a rally in Ohio.
“Tariff problems, a sudden attack,” reads simplified Chinese sticker text on an April 11 Douyin video of a man appearing to walk on stage behind Trump, hit him, and walk away as Trump ducks and Secret Service agents rush up to protect him.
The caption includes hashtags that read “US tariffs” and “US-China contest”.
Although Trump has slapped tariffs on both friend and foe, he has reserved his heaviest blows for China, with new levies of up to 145 percent on many Chinese imports even as Beijing retaliated with duties on US goods of 125 percent (archived link).
Trump has since said the United States is “talking to” China about the tariffs and added he was confident the world’s largest economies could make a deal to end a bitter trade war, though he was cagey when asked if he spoke directly to President Xi Jinping (archived link).
The same clip has been shared tens of thousands of times on TikTok and Chinese video-sharing platforms Douyin and Kuaishou, alongside claims that the “attack” was linked to tariffs.
It was also shared by Indian users in Hindi on X and Facebook.
But a reverse image search found the video was altered from footage of Trump at a rally in Ohio during his first campaign for the presidency.
It corresponds to a video that US broadcaster ABC News published on March 13, 2016 on its official YouTube channel (archived link).
Part of the clip’s description reads: “Shortly after mocking a protester who was being escorted out of the event in Dayton, Ohio, four Secret Service agents jumped onto the stage and surrounded Trump as someone appeared to be trying to reach the stage.”
The 46-second video shows Trump ducking mid-speech before the agents rush to surround him onstage as others run to the left of the stage. The crowd starts to boo and chant “Trump”.
Nobody else is seen attacking Trump onstage in the original footage.
Public affairs broadcaster C-Span live-streamed the rally on March 12, 2016 and no civilian was seen climbing onstage to assault Trump (archived link).
The protester, identified as Thomas DiMassimo, attempted to rush the stage because he wanted to send a message against racism and “violent, white supremacist ideas” (archived link). He was charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic.
Trump’s rallies during his first campaign often saw clashes between supporters and protesters offended by his abrasive speech (archived links).
Footage from the incident has been altered multiple times, including in 2019 alongside false claims that it showed an audience member shouting “Allahu Akbar”. It also resurfaced in 2024 after Trump narrowly dodged an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in July.
