FACT CHECK: Video Showing Trump Name Being Taken Off Hotel In Panama Is From 2018

A video shared on X claims to show President-elect Donald Trump’s name being taken off a hotel in Panama.

Why are they removing Trump name at his hotel in Panama?

👀pic.twitter.com/1OMQSloJxu

— Texas Patriot (@Texasbrn) December 23, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

While the video does show people removing Trump’s name from a hotel, the video is from 2018, not recently.

Fact Check:

Trump has repeatedly signaled that he wants to take control of the Panama Canal, a suggestion that the Panamanian government has rejected, CBS News reported.

Social media users are suggesting that a video of his name being removed from a hotel is due to his comments. One user wrote, “Why are they removing Trump name at his hotel in Panama?”

This claim, though, is misleading and missing context. It is true that the video does show his name being removed from a hotel in Panama. However, the video is from 2018 and is not recent nor connected to Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal.

Trump name chiseled off the Trump International Hotel in Panama after weeks of tensions over control of the property. https://t.co/KQuDrUckyr pic.twitter.com/Ph6xlHgwBr

— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2018

“Trump name chiseled off the Trump International Hotel in Panama after weeks of tensions over control of the property,” reads the original tweet from 2018. (RELATED: No, Justin Trudeau Did Not Post Image Of Canadian Citizens Pushing Donald Trump Off Cliff)

Per The New York Times, Trump’s name was taken off due to a property dispute between him and the majority owner of the hotel, Orestes Fintikli.

“This is a purely commercial dispute that just spun out of control,” Fintiklis said, according to the NYT. “And today this dispute has been settled by the judges and the authorities of this country.”

Reuters also fact-checked this claim.