The Hoax

Trump Overfed Koi Fish During His Visit To Japan

In November 2017, during President Trump’s visit to Japan, he participated in a traditional koi feeding ceremony with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The event, intended as a symbol of goodwill and respect for Japanese customs, quickly became a subject of controversy due to misleading media headlines which depicted Trump impatiently dumping his entire box of fish food into the pond.

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What Really Happened

Trump Followed Abe’s Lead By Dumping The Box Of Fish Food Into The Pond

In November 2017, President Trump visited Japan and participated in a traditional koi feeding ceremony with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Initially, both leaders used small wooden spoons to feed the fish. After a few moments, Trump followed Abe’s lead and emptied his entire box of fish food into the pond.

Here is Time Magazine, Snopes, and Mashable debunking the hoax.

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Hoaxology | How The Hoax Was Made

Here’s how this hoax was made.

Selective Editing

The hoax was created through selective editing of the footage, which cut out the part where Prime Minister Abe first emptied his box of fish food. By only showing Trump’s actions, the media created a misleading video. This edited footage was widely disseminated, leading to the false perception that Trump had acted improperly and ignorantly during the ceremony.

Strategic Ambiguity

Strategic ambiguity refers to the deliberate use of vague or ambiguous language, actions, or edited media to mislead or manipulate perceptions without making explicit false statements. This technique subtly guides the audience to a specific interpretation without directly stating it. In this case, the media used strategic ambiguity by selectively editing the video of the koi feeding ceremony, leading viewers to believe that President Trump was the only one who carelessly dumped the entire box of fish food into the pond, omitting the fact that Prime Minister Abe did the same thing moments before.

Trump spoon feeds koi fish at Akasaka Palace. He ended up just dumping the whole box of fish food into the pond, per @justinsink at scene. pic.twitter.com/ICAxXMlMsA

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 6, 2017

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