There’s a very dishonest meme making the rounds on social media. It falsely suggests that President Trump told Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, that the thousands of missing Ukrainian children had nothing to do with the meeting’s business.
That is simply not true. In fact, Trump himself raised the issue with President Zelensky and others, even sharing a letter the First Lady had written on the subject. Far from dismissing it, he made it central to the discussion.
Here’s the actual exchange the meme distorts:
Von der Leyen: “I want to thank you also that you mentioned the thousands of Ukrainian children that have been abducted. And, as a mother and grandmother, every single child has to go back to its family. This should be one of our main priorities also in these negotiations.”
Notice—Von der Leyen explicitly says Trump was the one who raised the issue.
Trump: “Thank you. And we did. I was just thinking we’re here for a different reason. But we, just a couple of weeks ago, made the largest trade deal in history, so that’s a big thing. And congratulations. That’s great. Thank you very much, Ursula.”
Trump’s remark—“we’re here for a different reason”—was not directed at the plight of missing children. It was a segue into his next point, about the recently concluded US-EU trade deal. Read in context, it’s obvious:
“I was just thinking we’re here for a different reason. But we, just a couple of weeks ago, made the largest trade deal in history…”
If you saw the meme and concluded Trump was brushing off missing children without checking the context, then you’re part of the problem. Assuming he’s that callous says more about your bias than about what he actually said.
This is the same playbook we’ve seen before—whether it was claims about “bleach injections,” “very fine people on both sides,” or “suckers and losers.”
Misquotes thrive because people believe the caricature they’ve built, not the record of what was actually said. There has never been a US President who has ever been treated this way.
freedom and reason 